Here and Now
by Myrna Follows
Summary: Five years ago, Fang and Vanille saved the world with their friends. Now, thanks to Hope's love, they are awake. But what happens when a dream haunts Vanille? Is it a new focus? Join the old gang in a new journey! This summary sucks, read to find out more. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

The fields of Gran Pulse were as beautiful as usual as Hope Estheim laid out on the grass, trying to absorb as much of the suns rays as he could. Five years ago, he was a simple boy growing up on the now deserted world of Cocoon. Not once did he ever imagine he would be living on the world that once waged war with his former home planet. Everything changed however, when he was branded a l'cie and life as he once knew it ceased to exist. From his mother passing on, to fighting the all powerful fal'cie Orphan, things did not go as he planned. One thing he truly never planned on: falling in love with _her_.

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><p>The town of New Bodhum was as bright and colorful as its predecessor on Cocoon. The town circle was buzzing with happiness and joy. Snow Villiers walked triumphantly around with his daughter following him, giggling. He grabbed her and her twin brother and let them sit on his shoulders,<br>"Happy birthday, Dia and Yun! Daddy loves you!"  
>"Aww Daddy!" Dia grabbed her fathers neck, as Yun hid his face from everyone who was looking. Serah Farron-Villiers came close to her husband, lifting her son.<br>"Snow! Can't you see you're embarrassing Yun? Go ahead sweetie, Auntie Light is by the table."  
>She put her son down and he quickly dashed to his aunt. Lighting Farron was sitting next to her former ally Sazh Katzroy and his son Dajh. Lightning shook her head, "Yun, I'm sorry your father is an idiot." Yun just hid behind his aunt's leg. Sazh laughed,<br>"It's funny how he's Snow's son. You could never tell. But you damn well know Dia is his daughter."  
>Lightning laughed. Over the years, she's gotten used to dealing with Snow. She's accepted him now as her brother, though she'd never tell him that. She also won't tell him how happy she was when four years ago, she found out her sister was going to have a baby. Imagine her shock when she ended up having twins. For days, the three of them sat around thinking of names for them. Her mind wandered to the day Serah came up with their names.<p>

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><p><em>Serah was resting in bed as Snow held his son and Lightning held her niece. They weren't expecting to have to think of two names. They were all in a deadlock.<br>"I've got an idea!" Serah shouted, even though she was still weak from childbirth.  
>"Serah, be careful! Don't strain yourself. But, what is your idea?" Her husband was worried about her health.<br>"What were Vanille's and Fang's surnames?"  
>Lightning remembered, "Dia and Yun. Why do you ask?"<br>Serah sat up to explain, "Well think about it: without them I wouldn't be here. Heck, you guys wouldn't be here now too. We owe so much to them. In honor of them, we'll call the girl Dia and the boy Yun. I think it would be nice."  
>Lightning and Snow were shocked. Serah barely knew them, yet she wanted to pay such a tribute to them. Of course, they didn't object.<em>

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><p>Lightning smiled. Sazh looked at her,<br>"Whatcha thinkin' about up there?"  
>Lightning shook her head and patted the top of Yun's head. "Oh, nothing." She looked around the circle. The members of NORA were partying and drinking, patting Snow on the back for being the best dad around. Gadot was flirting with Lebreau as usual, Yuj and Maqui were fooling around. She noticed someone was missing.<br>"Sazh? Have you seen Hope?"  
>He shook his head, "Maybe he's upstairs?"<br>Lightning got up and went inside their home. It was incredibly large, with a room for everyone from the group. After defeating Orphan, they still remembered that they were a family, and a family sticks together. So, thanks to Snow and Sazh, they built a mansion like building for everyone to live in. Some people shared rooms like Sazh and his son, Snow and Serah and the twins. Everyone else had their own rooms, including two spare rooms made for Fang and Vanille, just in case. She climbed the staircase and reached Hope's room and knocked,  
>"Hope, are you okay?"<br>"Yeah Light, come on in."  
>She cracked the door open and it squeaked. She cursed Snow, she kept telling him to fix this. "You okay?"<br>Hope nodded, but Light knew his mind was elsewhere. She sighed and put her hand on his back. She rembered the days when she could put an arm around him. When he was shorter then her, but now he was far taller. His shoulders were more broad and had muscles thanks to training with Snow, his voice dropped quite a bit. He grew his hair out a little bit more, but not to an extreme. After the incident, she did practically everything but adopt him. She became like his second mother, and he was thankful for that, especially because of the relationship he had with his estranged father.  
>"I know what you're thinking about, Vanille right?"<br>Hope shuddered. He never really said her name. Every time he did, a pain came up in his throat. He leaned against his window and nodded his head,  
>"It's been five years. I still can't believe it. I keep thinking that they'll just pop back up and be apologizing for missing the party. But… that's not the case, is it?"<br>Lightning frowned. She hated to see him like this. She wished that she had the right words to say, but she didn't. She rubbed small circles in his back. She's noticed how he's brought the soft side out in her. It was almost like she really was a mother. Hope stood up, towering over her.  
>"Hey, thanks Light. For everything. Let's head downstairs, maybe playing with the kids will make me feel better."<br>Lightning laughed softly and they began to walk downstairs. She was so proud of him; putting on a smile to make everyone else happy. That takes a lot of strength.

They made it down to the circle and Dia made a head rush for Hope. She really loved Hope, so much to say he was her older brother.  
>"Big Brother Hope! Come on, Daddy is telling jokes! He's so silly!"<br>Hope began to laugh and picked Dia up and headed for her father. Lightning went back to her spot at the table near Sazh. Dajh left to play with the twins and laugh at Snow. It was something everyone loved to do. Sazh asked,  
>"How's the kid holding up? Missing you-know-who?"<br>Lightning nodded her head, "I feel bad, I wish I knew what to say to him. Some kind of magic words."  
>Sazh stretched his self out, "There are." Lightning gasped and he laughed, "The words that come from your heart. Don't think about it, just say what you gotta say."<br>Lightning looked at her friend in awe. He was right. Next time, she would remember that.


	2. Chapter 2

The party continued, even after Serah and Sazh had put their kids to bed. However, the location moved to the lake that was close by. Snow had his arm slung around his wife and she cradled into him. Hope looked with envy. If _she _was here, they could be doing that too. He sighed and sipped his drink. As the night went on, people slowly started to leave and the only ones left were from the gang. Lightning got up.  
>"Hey everyone, I think it's only right that this drink be for Fang and Vanille. We've done this on the twin's birthday every year, let's not let a tradition die. To Fang and Vanille!"<br>The group repeated the line and took a drink from their glasses. The sip felt like hot poison running down Hope's throat. Doing a toast like that really made him remember that they aren't here, and they weren't going to be here. He sighed and got up,  
>"Guys, there's something I want to say."<br>Everyone looked up at him; Lightning's eyes filled with worry.  
>"Tomorrow… I'm thinking about going to the pillar and planting some flowers. For Fang and… Vanille. Would anyone else like to come?"<p>

They all looked in shock. Hope never went to visit the pillar. Not even when everyone else went to visit. Serah got up and walked over to him.  
>"I'd love to go Hope, thank you."<br>Snow and Sazh got up and agreed to join him. Lightning looked at him, not sure what to say. Hope looked at her, "And you, Light?"  
>She nodded her head. After that, they all agreed it was time to get home. As they walked, Lightning called out to Hope.<br>"Hey Hope, come here for a sec,"  
>Hope slowed his pace and met up with her, "What's up?"<br>"I just wanna say… thank you. Thank you for inviting us to go with you tomorrow. I know it'll be tough."  
>Hope nodded his head, "I figured it would be best to go with the people who I know care about me. It'll make it easier right?"<br>Light nodded her head, "Hope I… I want to apologize."  
>"For what?"<br>"I… whenever you would talk to me about what was bothering you, I would just stay silent. I want you to know I never meant to make it seem like I don't care, I really do. I just, never knew what to say."  
>Hope looked at her, 'It's fine Light, I know you do."<br>She smiled, "I know now that, the best kind of magic words are the ones that come from your heart. And I want you to know that I love you. No matter what, you'll always be like a son to me. And… I wouldn't know what to do without you in my life."  
>Then, unexpectedly, Lightning hugged Hope. He was taken off guard, by what she had said and what she had just done. She had never said those words to him and it made him feel ten times better. He returned the hug and smiled,<br>"Thanks Light, I mean Mom. I love you too."  
>A tear had escaped her eye, but she quickly wiped it away so it wouldn't leave a mark on his shirt. Hope had always felt like Lightning really had become his second mother. Nothing could ever truly replace his birth mother Nora of course, but Light was the best non-adopted mom out there. She pulled away and looked at his smile. This time, it wasn't forced. It was a genuine smile, something she hadn't seen in years. Everyone made it back to the house in one piece and rested peacefully. Tomorrow would be a long day.<p>

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><p>As the sun broke out over Gran Pulse, Hope slowly opened his eyes. He laid up in bed and realized what he would be doing today. He would be saying good-bye to Vanille. He was saying good-bye to his ideas that she would wake up in his lifetime. He knew she'd wake up again, but it wouldn't be in his life. From now on, he would live his life and try to make her proud of him. It was the best he could do, and he knew she'd appreciate that. He got out of his bed, only wearing a pair of pants and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He could smell that someone was cooking. Lightning was in front of the stove and looked over at him. She laughed, "I keep forgetting you're built. I still imagine you as my little fourteen year old."<br>Hope laughed and grabbed an apple like fruit off the counter. He sighed, "You ready for today?"  
>Lightning pulled her pan off the stove and looked at him as she prepared breakfast, "Am I ready? I've visited the pillar before. I think the better question is: are you ready?"<br>He looked down and took a deep breath, then made eye contact with her, "As ready as I'll ever be."  
>Lightning smiled and called everyone down to eat. They all sat together at the table and planned out the day. Dajh's Chocobo had grown and mated with another and they had a chick together that was now fully grown. Snow, Serah and Yun would ride one, Sazh and Dajh on another and Hope, Lightning and Dia on the last one. They'd make it out there within the hour. Hope sighed again, and as everyone finished eating, they all went to their rooms to get ready.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later, they had arrived at the pillar, the vast fields on Gran Pulse behind them. Hope jumped off the chocobo and strained his neck up to see the pillar that joined Cocoon and Pulse. The pillar that, thanks to his love and her sisterly figure, helped to save the worlds. Snow hit his back,  
>"You sure you ready for this kid?"<br>Hope nodded, "Yeah, I am. Let's do this. We've come this far, right?"  
>Dia grabbed Hope's hand. "I'll help you, okay Big Brother Hope?"<br>Hope smiled at the little girl. Her smiled reminded him of Vanille's. It was so infectious that you couldn't help but smile too. They all walked closer to the pillar. Hope put his hand on the crystal and everyone else unpacked the supplies.  
>"Hey Vanille and Fang. It's me, Hope. I'm sorry I never visited. It's taken a lot for me to do this. I… really miss you guys, especially you Vanille. I… I never told you when you were around, well I did, but then I lied and said it was a joke but… I really do like it when you smile. I'd give anything now for you to smile again. I also never told you but…" The words stuck in his throat, "I never told you but… I know we only knew each other for a short amount of time but in that time, I came to love you. I still do Vanille, I love you very much. Every day goes by and I always think about you. I'll always remember you and love you, but I've come to realize that in my life, you won't be waking up. So, I'll continue on. I'll stay here, with our family and I will do my best to make you proud of me. So, until next time then… oh and Fang, I'm sorry if you heard all of this, please don't hate me." He laughed a little bit, imagining her reaction. "We're gonna plant flowers for you guys. I hope you like it."<br>He took his hand off the pillar and looked up, "I miss you."  
>He walked away and over to his family and grabbed a seed and brought it back to where he stood. He dug a hole in the dirt with his hands and planted the seed.<br>"This is a moonblossom seed. It grows in pink and blue. I thought it was nice representation for you guys." He smiled and got up. Lightning walked over to him,  
>"You okay?"<br>He smiled, "I'm okay. I think I'm at peace. I just wish… I just wish a miracle would happen."

A voice spoke out that everyone heard.  
><em>"Wishes can come true… but not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here and now."<br>_The ground beneath them shook. Serah grabbed the twins and Snow grabbed Serah. Sazh clutched onto Dajh. Lightning tried to reach out for Hope but the ground shook too much. The pillar began to react to the voice as an opening began to form in the area where Vanille and Fang were sleeping. Slowly, they floated out of their former crystal lair and drifted down to the ground. The crystal around them had disappeared and they opened their eyes.

Fang and Vanille woke up.

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><p><strong>Authors Note: So, hello! This is my first AN and I wanna know what you guys think! Please point out any errors you may notice.  
>I know it seems like it's fast, but this is gonna be a long story, so I guess I'm "jumping the shark" to get into the fun!<br>If you have any questions, lemme know!** 3


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone looked in wonder and shock. No one reacted. Not even when they spoke to each other.  
>"Vanille? Are you alright?"<br>"Yeah, I'm fine." Hope went pale.  
>"I guess we woke up again huh?"<br>Vanille smiled, "I guess so. I heard something though, didn't you?"  
>Fang smirked, "Yeah, it was his voice." She pointed to Hope. "What's the matter guys? Afraid you've seen a ghost?" Everyone lit up and ran towards the duo. Snow hugged Fang, as did Sazh and Vanille grabbed him for a hug. Lightning hugged them too, and properly introduced them to Serah, who then hugged them both and thanked them for everything they did. Hope stood still; motionless. HE had no idea how to react. Vanille looked at Fang and everyone else. They nodded in approval. She smiled brightly and charged towards Hope. She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.<br>"It… it was you! You called out to me! You told me you loved me! I love you too Hope!"  
>He quickly realized that this wasn't a dream. Vanille was really here, holding him. In true Snow fashion, Hope let out a big laugh and sweeped her off her feet and swung her around. "You're here! You're here!" He laughed and smiled. Lightning was overjoyed, she hadn't seen Hope like this in such a long time. Even Yun was excited. Hope set Vanille on her feet, she giggled,<br>"Wow, look at you! You've changed so much! You almost remind me of Snow!"  
>He looked into her eyes and held her chin, "I've missed you…" He pulled closer for a kiss. It was his first kiss. That may sound pathetic for a nineteen year old, but he never wanted to kiss another girl if it wasn't Vanille. She gripped on to him tightly and he lifted her off her feet a bit, again. Snow wooted and hollered, Sazh looked away, Fang, Serah and Lightning smiled and the kids giggled. The lovers broke their embrace, Vanille locked her fingers with Hope's and dragged him back to the group. They were all together again, life was perfect.<p>

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><p>For the second night in a row, a party was held in the town circle. This was fine with the members of NORA, an excuse to drink was an excuse to drink. Sazh and Lightning took their usual seats but this time were joined by Fang and Serah. Snow was being an idiot with all of his friends. Dajh, Dia and Yun were playing with the other children and Hope and Vanille were dancing with other people. Fang looked at her friends, "So hey, why do the twins have our names?"<br>Lightning and Serah laughed and explained the story to her. Fang smiled,  
>"Aw Serah, you didn't have to do that, thanks!"<br>"I thought it was only fitting. Thanks to you, Dajh and I woke up and we got to all be together again. It's only fair that you were represented as well."  
>Fang clincked cups with Serah, a sign of appreciation. Lightning looked over at the two love birds, who were now inseparable, but she couldn't blame them. She then turned to Fang,<br>"So, what was it like in there?"  
>Fang took a sip of her drink, "Well, it was warm actually. I think it was cause the sun was beating on us." They all laughed a little, "But honestly, it was a little sad. Vanille and I could still think and even hear each other's thoughts. And all she ever thought about was Hope. I tried to change the topic often but nope; it always went back to Hope. She really loves that guy." Lightning at them again, this time Hope was whispering in her ear. Then suddenly he took her hand and they bolted for the lake. Lightning got up, but Serah pushed her back down. "Leave them. They're going to have alone time. So romantic!"<p>

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><p>Hope and Vanille arrived at the lake. They stopped by the waters edge and looked at each other. Hope pulled her tightly to his chest. "I've missed you so much," he said, "I thought about you all the time."<br>Vanille wrapped her arms around his chest, "I missed you too. I never realized when I was here with you how much I truly loved you. Guess you don't know whatcha got till it's gone." She looked up at him and smiled, then pulled away. She took off her shoes and socks and started to walk in the water, looking away from Hope. She took a deep breath,  
>"Every day I was up there, I thought of some way that I could free myself. I never figured out a way. Every time the gang came to visit, Fang and I could feel their presence. I didn't feel yours though… I used to think you didn't care about me anymore,"<br>Hope took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off again.  
>"I could hear every word they said. And I heard Lightning say 'Poor Hope. He loves her so much, yet he can't be with her. It's not fair to him. To both of them, actually.' Then I knew you still cared about me! I just never knew when you'd visit."<br>He spoke, "I tried; so many times. But it was difficult. Seeing you up there… it would make me realize that you were really gone and I refused to believe that."  
>She turned to look at him, "So then why did you visit today?"<br>Hope's eyes widened. He knew why: he was at the pillar to say goodbye. He was there to tell her that he was going to move on with life. He sighed,  
>"I went today to say goodbye. I finally gave in and was going to try to move on. For myself, and for everyone else."<br>She turned back around facing away from him, "I see then…"  
>Hope took another step, not caring about his clothing or shoes, "Vanille I'm sorry…"<br>She shook her head, "I know you are. It's all right Hope."  
>She turned again to look at him and smile, "We're together now, aren't we? You don't have to move on now. I'm going to be with you now, always. Weither you like it or not!" She stuck her tongue out at him and giggled. He smiled to and rushed to her, now totally soaked. He cupped her face again and kissed her with as much love and passion as one man could possibly muster. Her knees started to buckle, so she grabbed onto his body for dear life. He pulled away and looked at her,<br>"I'll always want you with me. Forever. Here and now." He winked at her, using her own words. She smiled and took his hand and went back to the waters edge. She sat them both down and laid down on the ground. Hope followed her and cuddled with her. For five years, he had to go without her. He was damn sure that he would no longer go a minute without her by his side. After laying by her side for what seemed like forever, he got up and offered her his hand.  
>"Come on, we should head back. The party is in your honor after all."<br>Vanille laughed and grabbed his hand. They walked back to the circle, telling jokes and laughing as if she had never left.


	5. Chapter 5

The town welcomed them back to the party and they danced and laughed and enjoyed life. Lightning looked over at the young adults and smiled.  
>"You really did become his second mom huh?"<br>Lightning jumped in shock as Snow laughed behind her and took a seat.  
>"You could warn someone when you're behind them you know."<br>"Sorry bout that Sis. But was I right or wrong?"  
>Lightning took another look at the love birds. She remembered how just yesterday, Hope was depressed and forlorn. But by simply telling him how she felt, he felt better, and even called her Mom. She found it amazing how the events of one day can change everything. She smiled and nodded her head,<br>"You know, I never thought of it like that. But I guess somewhere, deep down I knew that. I guess he knew it too. It's just strange. To me, it feels like now, he really is all grown up. I never imagined him like this. To me, he'll always be my little fourteen year old."  
>She sighed and looked over at Snow who was grinning like a moron, as usual.<br>"What's your problem?"  
>"My, my, my! Who ever knew Light could have feelings?"<br>She smacked him upside the head. He laughed and picked up Yun who was, as usual, hiding behind Light's leg.  
>"Hey, we all feel that way sometimes. We never truly realize how much we love and care for something until it all changes. I never fully appreciated Serah before the kids were born and saw that she gave life to our children."<br>Lightning looked at him, unable to comprehend that Snow just actually made a smart comment.  
>"In the end though, we have to let people know how we feel. Let them know that deep in our hearts, we truly do love and care for them. Every day now, I tell Serah, Dia and Yun that I love them so much. I never will know what day could be my last. And that, my dear sister is the truth."<br>Well damn, Snow was batting a thousand today. She looked at him in astonishment as he played with his son, and whispered to him that he loved him. He was right though, everything he said was the truth. She was happy she told Hope how she felt. Her magic words worked.

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><p>That night, everyone went into their rooms to try and get some rest after such a long and eventful day. Lightning made it clear that Hope and Vanille would not stay in the same room. After all, there were children around. The entire family exchanged goodnights and tried to relax. Hope laid in bed and tried to process the day. This morning he woke up with a heavy heart, trying to wrap his arms around the fact that he was about to say goodbye to the girl he loved. But now, she's a couple feet away, sleeping peacefully. IT was amazing how so much can change. He smiled and rolled over to try and close his eyes when there was a knock at his door. He got out of bed, puzzled by who it could be. Maybe Light needed to tell him something…<br>"I had a nightmare."  
>A sniffling Vanille was crying at his door. He quickly brought her into his room, hoping Light wouldn't see this and kill him. He sat her down on the floor, hoping to get answers.<br>"What happened?"  
>"Some… some beast. It was attacking me. Then you tried to stop it and… there was blood. Oh the blood…"<br>He wrapped his arms around the girl, letting her sob into his bare chest. He didn't know how to console her. Maybe she had a new focus. He quickly shot up. No one ever asked her or Fang if they still had their brands.  
>"Vanille quick, show me your brand."<br>She got up and lifted her skirt. They both blushed in embarrassment; Hope had forgotten her brand was pretty much on her ass. But as he looked, and he _looked _there was nothing. His smile grew, because he now realize that Vanille would never be a cie'th. She no longer had a focus to worry about. But then… why did she have such a vivid dream like that?  
>"Well, the good news is that your brand isn't there." He smiled up at her, and she returned the gesture, and slightly coughed. Hope was still holding up her skirt. He flushed and dropped it down. He gave her a quick hug.<br>"Calm down Vanille. A dream is a dream. It can't hurt you."  
>She looked up at him, "Can I stay here for the night?"<br>An image of Fang and Lightning beating him to a pulp flashed through Hope's mind. He shook his head,  
>"It's not that I don't want you to… wait a second. I've got an idea."<br>With nimble feet, Hope went downstairs and grabbed two cups from the counter and a very long piece of string. With a knife, he cut a hole in the bottom of the cups then tied the string in both of them. Quietly, he climbed back up the stairs to his room. Vanille was sitting on the floor, puzzled by the contraption in his hands.  
>"What's that?"<br>"When I was little, my mom made this cup phone for me whenever I had nightmares so I didn't have to stay in the room with her, but so that she was with me in my room."  
>He handed her one of the cups, "Now walk back to your room, and you can talk to me if you get scared, okay?"<br>She nodded her head, kissed his cheek, then ran back to her room. Hope shook his head and went back to lay down with the cup next to him.  
>"Hey Hope?"<br>"Yeah?"  
>"Thank you, I love you!"<br>Hope laughed, "I love you too Vanille."  
>Within a few minutes, he could hear her snoring through the cup. With those sounds in his head, he slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next couple of weeks, Fang and Vanille tried to adapt to their new life with the citizens of Cocoon on Gran Pulse. They taught the people everything they knew from when they grew up in Oerba; how to properly hunt, cook and how to preserve the food properly. Things were so different now because the people accepted them, and did not flee in terror simply because they were from Pulse. Vanille was as cheerful as ever, and spending any free time with Hope. Hope started a new job as a chemist for the Sanctum, which was under drastic new management. From now on, the people helped to run it and no secrets were kept. Lightning helped to start up the Guardian Corp a couple years back. She was offered the head position, but turned in town. She took her old job back protecting New Bodhum. Snow had quit NORA when the kids were born and now works in construction. He had to put those fists to work somehow, right? Serah stays home with the twins. Sazh started up an aviation school in the village, which Dajh proudly attends. Life was practically perfect.  
>"Hey Hope, I've got an idea!"<br>The lake had become their new spot. Hope was off work and Vanille had free time since Fang was the only one who knew how to really sauté a behemoth. Hope looked at her puzzled,  
>"What is it?"<br>"Remember the promise we made? How we said we would see Gran Pulse together? Why don't we do that?"  
>Hope was surprised and Vanille bounced around, "Uh… what do you mean?"<br>"Silly! Think about it! How much of Gran Pulse has ever really been explored? Even as a child, I heard stories about parts that had been left untouched. We can go, maybe even figure out my nightmare!"  
>Hope shuddered. Every night, Vanille still came crying to him about the same nightmare" she was being attacked and he ended up dying in a pool of blood.<br>"Is that why you want to go and do this? To figure out your nightmare?"  
>Vanille lowered her head, "It wouldn't be such a bad idea, would it?"<br>Hope could see how this dream was affecting Vanille. Whenever she talked about it, the glow she had faded away and it was as if life had no meaning for her. He kissed the top of her head and held her close. He had no idea how to go about doing this. Lightning and Fang would kill them before they even step foot outside the house. Serah probably wouldn't be too keen on the idea. Snow would say go for it, and as long as Dajh didn't go, Sazh wouldn't mind. Traveling around Gran Pulse; just the two of them… the thought alone scared and excited Hope. He would be alone with Vanille; that was the exciting part. He would be her defender while they explored the great unknown of Pulse; that was the scary part. He got up and pulled her along side him.  
>"Where are we going Hope?"<br>"To talk to the family about us traversing around Pulse."

* * *

><p>"Are you stupid?"<br>"Are you out of your mind?"  
>"Hell yeah! Go for it!"<br>"I don't know if that's such a good idea…"  
>"Dajh better not be going!"<br>Those were the reactions that greeted the young couple as they announced their plan to explore Pulse. Hope slumped his head down. They continued on their rants about how this was a bad idea and how their kids were gonna get the same idea. Vanille had enough. She slammed her fist against the table.  
>"We're adults you know! We don't need your permission!"<br>She stormed out of the room and even out of the house. Hope got up to chase her, but then turned around to his family.  
>"She's… she's been having dreams. Somewhere on Pulse she doesn't recognize, she gets attacked by this beast. I step in to protect her and I end up dying. She's been having this dream for a while now. She explains it quite graphically. She… We want to go to see what it is."<br>Hope then left the house. He ran to the lake but she wasn't there. Now he was in a panic. Where on Pulse could she have gone? He went back to the village and looked all over. He went to the chocobo corral. Dajh's chocobo was missing. IT then clicked in his head; she went to Oerba. Grabbing the other chocobo, Hope galloped as quickly as possibly as he could to Oerba.

* * *

><p>The rest of the gang sat around in silence. This was the first there were hearing about Vanille's dream. Fang slammed her fist on the table,<br>"Dammit. She couldn't tell me about me this dream. And the one time she tries to tell me about it, I shut her down. What kind of family am I?"  
>Lightning looked away from her forlorn friend, "Yeah, like I did any better."<br>Serah put her arm on her sister's back, "You can't blame yourself. All you want if for them to be safe and exploring Pulse… isn't exactly safe. I would do the same thing if it was Dia or Yun."  
>Sazh shook his head, "Maybe we could think of a compromise with them. Let them go; but under certain circumstances."<br>Lightning and Fang though for a moment. Then, like a bolt of thunder, they spoke at the same time. Everyone seemed to agree with the idea. When the kids got back; negotiations would begin.


	7. Chapter 7

When he arrived, Hope locked up the chocobo and ran to the apartment where Vanille's toy friend resides. She was sitting there, cuddling her old friend, tears streaming down her face. Hope went and sat next to her, putting an arm over her.  
>"I know that wasn't what you were hoping for."<br>"We're nineteen Hope! We can do whatever we want! They can't keep treating us like this…"  
>He hugged the love of his life closer to him, "I know you're scared. This dream scares me too. But I know it'll be okay."<br>Vanille looked up at him, "What makes you so sure?"  
>"Because I have you with me now. Through hell or high water, we can make it. When I was alone, I was powerless. But with you by my side, I know we can accomplish things. We'll find out why you're having these dreams, don't worry. I would never let anything happen to you."<br>She smiled at him. She had no choice but to believe him and hope for the best. Even though the haunting truth is that he would be the one hurt if the dream was right. Hope got off the floor and lifted her off the ground.  
>"Come on, let's get going. Time for round two, right?"<br>She nodded her head and walking hand in hand, they went back to where the chocobos were. She stopped before getting on hers while Hope was on top of his,  
>"What's wrong?"<br>"Fang will be so mad. I never told her about the dream."  
>Hope shook his head, "Well, I told her about it. But you can go into more detail if you want."<br>"So she knows now?"  
>"Yeah."<br>Vanille got on top of her chocobo. "Well… hopefully she'll understand right?"  
>Hope nodded his head and they began their ride back to New Bodhum.<p>

* * *

><p>Serah had put the twins and Dajh to bed while the others sat in the kitchen. Lightning's leg was twitching while she tried to drink her coffee.<br>"Hey Sis you gotta calm down man!"  
>Lightning almost spit her coffee while Snow laughed. "I wish I could kill you."<br>Snow continued to laugh as Sazh shook his head. Seriously, how could someone be so… stupid? Before Lightning could whip out her gunblade and teach Snow a lesson, the front door opened. Fang was the first on her feet, sprinting to the foyer to greet the lovers. Fang quickly grabbed Vanille for a hug, an awkward hug seeing as how she was holding Hope's hand.  
>"Vanille I am so sorry. I am so sorry for being mean and rude."<br>Vanille let go of her boyfriends hand and gave Fang a proper hug. "It's okay, really."  
>Lightning and the others came into the room. She quickly went over to Hope and hugged him as well.<br>"I'm sorry too, really."  
>Hope nodded his head, understand that she meant well.<br>Sazh walked over, "Lucky for you guys, we all came up with an idea." The two looked over at him, puzzled. "Well, whatcha think about all of us going?"  
>Hope and Vanille looked confused. Hope spoke up, "But, what about the kids?"<br>Serah walked over, "Have no fear. I wouldn't be going with you. I'd stay here with the twins and Dajh."  
>Lightning smiled, "It'd be like old times. All of us traveling Pulse again. What do you think?"<br>Fang looked at Vanille, "That way, we figure out what this dream is about and we all stick together to stay safe."  
>Vanille started bouncing around, "That's a great idea! But…"<br>Everyone stopped and looked at her as her head fell down, "What if you all get hurt because of me?"  
>Snow shrugged his shoulders, "If we get hurt, it's our own choice and our own fault. We are a family kiddo, we gotta stick around."<br>She looked up at him, "But Snow, your kids… and Sazh your son! If anything happened to either one of you…"  
>"It's a risk we take."<br>Vanille shot her head up to see Lightning walk near her.  
>"You are the most important thing to Hope. And you are just as important to the rest of us. We are going to go and keep you safe while we figure out what this beast is.""<br>The tears had formed in Vanille's eyes. She nodded her head and went around the room and hugged everyone, even Serah. Hope watched her and smiled, then walked in the middle of the room,  
>"Well, let's get to planning! We got to get ready to head out!"<br>Lightning laughed, "I guess so. We leave the day after tomorrow. Everyone get some rest, tomorrow is planning day."

* * *

><p>The dawn seemed brighter this morning to Hope. He stretched out his bones from a long nights rest and made his way downstairs. Wearing nothing but a pair of pants, he went down to the kitchen to see his beloved Vanille, chipper as always cooking some bird eggs. She looked over at her man and gulped. He really had changed in the five years she was crystallized. He had muscles, lots of them. A nice six pack and those V shaped muscles that made smart girls dumb; she was really lucky. She blushed and looked back at her eggs, "Good morning!" Hope smiled and kissed the top of her head, "Good morning." He took a seat as Serah came down into the kitchen with the twins following behind her. Dia ran over to Hope and climbed into his lap,<br>"Big Brother Hope! Mommy says tomorrow you guys are leaving! You're gonna take me right?"  
>Hope shook his head, "Sorry Dia. Hope's gotta go without you. It's for big people."<br>She pouted and took her seat at the table where Vanille placed her food. Fang came down and sat next to Yun. Over time, Yun had grown to like Fang a lot, and she had a soft spot for him. She really cared for her namesake. She patted his head and he flashed his rare smile. Hope looked over at Fang,  
>"So, what do you know about Pulse?"<br>"Well, for one thing I know it's dangerous. We're gonna have to be smart about what we plan to do."  
>"Well, are there any lost landmarks we can start to look for or something?"<br>Fang sat and scratched her head, "Well, I mean there is…"  
>"The Lost Temple of Anima!" Vanille shrieked.<br>Fang and Hope shot their heads up. Lightning walked into the kitchen and looked at all of them,  
>"What the hell did I miss?"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- hey guys, i'm sorry i haven't updated in a while. FFXIII-2 came out... so. much. awesome x.x haha i made sure to give you a long chapter to make up for it. i beat the game so i will continue with quicker updates! thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

Vanille decided to wait until everyone came down to explain herself. Snow came down within time; Sazh followed, cursing the world. Vanille stood up from the table,  
>"Growing up in Oerba, we worshiped the Fal'cie Anima. Even though Anima was in our town, there was a legend that before Anima came to us, he… or she, was elsewhere."<br>"There's rumor," Fang spoke, "That somewhere, lost in the unknown wilderness of Pulse is a temple. A temple dedicated to Anima. They say clues are left all over to lead the way to it, but no one has ever been smart enough to decipher them."  
>Light looked at Fang, "So just how do we go about finding these clues and such?"<br>Vanille piped in, "Well, I believe the ruins of Yaschas Massif have some clues. Maybe we should start by heading out there! We'd have to travel the Archylte Steppe back to Vallis Media and onwards. Might take some time, but we'd get there eventually, right?"  
>Fang nodded, "Right. Once we get there and search the ruins, we plan out our next step. Who knows where the clues will take us, we'll have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst."<p>

* * *

><p>As the day progressed, the gang packed everything they could think of. Food, water, tools and other necessities would be with them. Sazh would borrow Dajh's chocobos for the trip, he had to remember to pack gyshals for them. Lightning made sure Serah's knife was with her; sentimental reasons of course. Snow dusted off his old fighting gloves and laughed, happy that they still fit like… well a glove. Hope helped Vanille and Fang to get things they would need to cook any meat they killed during the trip. Lightning walked outside and saw Serah watching the kids play. She put her hand on her sister's arm,<br>"Are you going to be alright? Taking care of three kids alone won't be easy."  
>"Of course Light. I'm more worried about you guys though. You don't have l'cie powers anymore. How are you gonna survive?"<br>Light shrugged, "We're all strong enough. I'm sure we'll make it. Plus if things get too tough, we'll run away on the chocobos, right?"  
>Light laughed, trying to make her sister feel better. Serah half-smiled, then turned away.<br>"If things get too rough out there, you come right home okay? I won't lose you, or Snow or Hope or anyone, okay!"  
>Serah suddenly turned around and hugged her sister tightly. Lightning gasped, then held onto her sister. She felt bad, leaving little Serah here all alone with the twins and Dajh. It wasn't right. Light let go of her sister, then quickly ran over to the NORA headquarters, which was just Lebreau's new bar. She entered to see Lebreau working hard to take care of all the drunks of New Bodhum. Out of all of them she spotted Gadot, the new leader of NORA thanks to Snow stepping down. He was there, checking out Lebreau's ass as she washed some dishes. Lightning made a disgusted sound and hit him upside the head.<br>"OW. Hey, who the hell did that, I swear I'll- oh, it's you. What did I do now?"  
>Lightning sighed. She was starting to reconsider her plan.<br>"I need to ask you a favor Gadot. You need to be sober to do this though."  
>He laughed, "I'm always sober for a mission. You shoulda seen me at the Purge! What seems to be the problem sweetheart?"<br>Lightning sighed, "We have to leave. Me, Snow and everyone else. We've got business to take care of."  
>Gadot sat up, "What about the kids?"<br>"That's just it. Serah is going to stay all alone with the three kids. She's going to need protection. So that means-"  
>He stood up, cracking his knuckles, "So that means you need a security team huh?"<br>"More or less. Nothing too drastic, just someone to keep an eye on her and the kids. Send Yuj or Maqui to do it. I don't trust you around my niece or nephew."  
>Gadot laughed, "Oh come on Light, I'm Yun's god father! You can trust me!"<br>Light glanced over at Gadot's drink, then to his face. To this day, she will never understand why Serah let Snow pick him for a god father. Thank god Sazh was Dia's god father. She sighed,  
>"Just have someone there to look out for my family, okay? We leave tomorrow so it needs to start as soon as we go."<br>Gadot took a sip, "So uh, what's my payment?"  
>"… excuse me?"<br>"You know, for taking care of her and the kids? Protection detail can be pretty expensive you know…"  
>Lebreau walked over and took his drink, "Your payment? I'll continue to let you stare at my ass and not kick yours. Plus maybe I'll give you a few free drinks."<br>Gadot gulped, "Okay, we've got a deal."  
>Light nodded at Lebreau and walked out of the bar to go back to the house. At least now Serah would be safe. She explained to Serah and Snow what she just did, and they thanked her.<p>

* * *

><p>The day progressed and everyone continued to get ready. As night crept closer, the gang went outside and set up a bonfire. It was their last night of being home and together with everyone; they wanted to make the best of it. Hope and Vanille sat close together, Sazh had Dajh on his lap and was cracking jokes with Fang, Snow was bouncing Dia around and cuddling with his wife while Yun stayed behind Light's leg. She looked around at her family and smiled. However that smile quickly vanished when she realized the truth; this was their last night together. Who knows when they'd come back, or even if…<br>She shook her head. Pessimistic thoughts were evil and always make a situation look bleak.


	9. Chapter 9

By now, the NORA members came and joined their former leaders family in the small get-together.

Fang stood up, "Hey everyone, can I get your attention?"  
>Everyone stopped in their laughter and conversation to look up at the woman.<br>"I just want to say thank you, to all of you really. You're willing to sacrifice a lot to help out Vanille and even Hope. I know we're family now and all but still, for you guys to accept two women from your sworn enemy planet… That really takes a lot. Thank you."  
>Serah walked over to Fang, "If there is anyone to thank, it's you two. You saved my sister and my fiancé and all of Coccoon. For five years we left you guys alone and I'm sorry about that. Now, it's our turn to help you somehow."<br>Vanille ran over and hugged Fang and Serah at the same time. It was a bittersweet moment that no one could take their eyes off of. Except Hope. A sick pit feeling started to form in his stomach and he had to walk away. Putting down his drink, Hope started to run. To where? Well, he didn't really know. He just needed to run. Everyone stopped and Vanille started to go after him, but was stopped by Light.  
>"Let him run Vanille. Better to run now then on our journey. Snow…?"<br>Snow got up, understanding what Lightning wanted him to do. He began to make haste after Hope. He knew why Hope ran, it was an issue about pride. How is a man supposed to feel when he alone can't protect the woman he loves when she is in anger or pain? This is exactly how he felt five years ago when he had to rely on his friends to help save Serah. Was he so weak that he couldn't save her on his own? That he has to run to others to help her and in fact, put them in danger as well? This was an emotion Snow knew a lot about and could hopefully console his young friend.

* * *

><p>Hope just ran and ran until he no longer could breathe. He collapsed in one of the many vasts fields that scoured Pulse. He tried to catch his breath but to no avail, so he just laid on the ground. Snow eventually caught Hope in his sight and ran quicker after noticing he had fallen. Snow bent down to Hope,<br>"Hey kid, you okay?"  
>Hope nodded his head, feeling a little bit better. Snow stood them both up,<br>"Look, I understand what is going through your head and I-"  
>"How can you understand it Snow? What on Pulse makes you think that you know?"<br>"Hey, how the hell do you think I felt about Serah huh? How do you think it felt when I had to rely on her sister and strangers to go and save her? I get it Hope, out of everyone in New Bodhum, I get it."  
>Hope gasped quietly and went to go sit on a rock, resting his face into the palm of his hands.<br>"It's just… everyone is giving up so much for her. People could die on this trip and if someone gets hurt, it's all my fault…"  
>Snow sighed and knelt in front of his friend, "It's not going to be your fault. We are choosing to help you and Vanille. We are a family and families don't let its members go around alone and scared. We are going to help you, and nothing will go wrong because we are all strong enough. Things are gonna work out for the best, don't they always?"<br>Snow put his hand on Hope shoulder, hoping to send any type of comfort he can. Hope looked up at Snow and half-smiled. He felt bad for yelling at Snow now, not taking into consideration his own experiences five years ago. Hope rose from the rock and playfully bumped into Snow,  
>"I'm sorry."<br>"Hey, it' all good. I'm used to you flipping out at me."  
>Hope winced and laughed nervously at the memories. Five years ago, Hope blamed Snow for just about everything wrong with the world, including the untimely passing of his mother Nora. Whenever Hope got too frustrated, he would lash his anger out at Snow. They walked back to the village together, and everyone greeted them back as if nothing had happened. Vanille was a little upset, however. When Hope returned, he did not go back to her to let her know he was fine. As the bonfire died down, Vanille walked away to the lake nearby. Hope followed her quietly, hoping she wouldn't notice him. Vanille sat by the waters edge and sighed,<br>"I know you're there Hope."  
>He walked closer to her and took a big breath, "Vanille I'm-"<br>"In a relationship, you have to be able to speak your mind to the other person. You have to let them know when something is wrong or bothering them, not just run away like that… Then to not even tell that person when you return that you're okay at least…"  
>"I know Vanille. I'll admit, me running like that was not one of my proudest moments…"<br>She turned her head to look at her lover, waiting for more of an explanation. Hope sighed and came to sit next to her,  
>"I was annoyed with myself. Annoyed that I was letting everyone risk their lives for something I should be able to do."<br>Vanille cocked her head to the side, not comprehending what he meant. Hope chuckled quietly,  
>"I should be all the protection you need Vanille. I should be able to help you through these nightmares and console you after them. I should be able to fight and defend you, I should be-"<br>Suddenly, Vanille cut off Hope with her soft lips. He was startled, not expecting this at all. After a moment, Vanille stopped at looked at him.  
>"You are all the protection I will ever need. You holding me after my nightmares is more than enough consoling that I will ever need and I know that when things get tough, you will always be there for me, no matter what."<br>Hope smiled at his girlfriend. She knew just what to say to make him feel a lot better. He kissed her forehead, then rested his in the same spot,  
>"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you. Silly me. Won't be making that mistake twice."<br>"And I'm sorry I got so mad. I didn't need to overreact like that."  
>"I'm glad you did though. I liked getting that sudden kiss, it was-"<br>In Hope's mind, it was more than nice. He loved when Vanille suddenly kissed him, and he loved how she read his mind and did it again. But this time, he didn't let go of her. He clutched her closer to his body and licked her lower lips, hoping to be granted permission. She opened up her mouth and they deepened the kiss. Next thing they realized, they were having a full-out, rolling in the sand cheesy makeout session. Hope had no problem with this at all. With each roll around, Hope felt more of her body. With each gentle touch and sensation, the fire in the pit of his body grew stronger. He knew it wasn't the proper thing to do, especially since their relationship was so new. But he can't help it. When you're a man and you have a beautiful woman under you, your mind will wander and your pants will…  
>Crap.<br>Quickly, Hope realized how big of a tent he was pitching. He let go of Vanille's lips and laid down next to her, on his stomach. It was sure as hell very uncomfortable, but he'd rather deal with the pain then having his poor sweetheart becoming so embarrassed. They were both panting uncontrollably, but more then satisfied with how far they went. Vanille laid on her side and took Hope's hand and giggled,  
>"A little strain on your trousers, huh?"<br>Hope blushed a babydoll pink, "I was trying to hide it from you. Didn't want to embarrass you."  
>"If anything I find it a compliment. Nice to know that I've got it going on!"<br>She winked at him, which did not help him calm down. But he laughed and smiled,  
>"Of course you do. You're perfect Vanille."<br>She blushed slightly and gave him a peck of a kiss,  
>"Come on mister, let's get going back. They'll start to think we left on the journey without them!"<br>"You go on ahead, I need time to, uh, think."  
>She laughed, "Oh right, think. Got it."<br>She stood up and kissed the top of his head. She ran back to the village and left Hope to his thoughts. He sat up and wondered how tomorrow would go. Leaving on another journey with everyone sounds good, especially since this trip will be planned. Five years ago, everyone was just thrown together, not knowing what on earth would happen. He was excited and petrified at the same time. But if something goes wrong, he knows he has the support of everyone, including his loving girlfriend. Maybe Snow was right, things usually do work out for the best.  
>Right?<p>

* * *

><p>After Hope returned to the village, everyone decided to head off to bed. They would start out early tomorrow so beauty rest was indeed needed. As Lightning walked to her room, she took a quick stop at Hope's room. She knocked softly and entered,<br>"Are you decent?"  
>"Yeah Light, come on in."<br>She walked slowly into his room and looked at him. He was laying in bed, reading a book. She smiled and sat on the edge of his bed.  
>"Is it any good?"<br>"Yeah. It's supposed to be a action-adventure novel though. Nothing like what we went through though."  
>She laughed. Their experiences id put a damper on reading and television. Nothing could ever live up to what they dealt with. Lightning looked down at her hands,<br>"I know why you ran off today. I kind of got the jist of it, and Snow told me. I just want you to know that you don't have to feel the guilt of anything in this situation. We're doing this because we love both you and Vanille."  
>Hope smiled, "Yeah, I know. And thank you for caring about our relationship enough to go through this. I really owe you so much Light."<br>She stood up and walked near the door. Her mind filled with all the memories of the past five years. Through the good times and the bad, she has learned so much.  
>In life, you have to have a support group. No matter how much of a loner you can be, everyone needs at least someone. Humans are not meant to be solitary creatures. In times of great sadness or even great joy, we flock together to share in the moment. When you're lost and alone having someone there, weither they be a friend, a lover, a family member or whatever, you realize how much you can appreciate that person and their impact on your life. You would do anything to return the favor. Even go on a journey through an unknown landscape.<br>Wetness appeared in the corner of Lightning's eye. She turned her head,  
>"Maybe it's me who really owes you Hope."<br>She walked out of the room, took a deep breath, and slowly made her way to her room.

* * *

><p><strong>sucha long chapter :D i hope this makes up for a lot. anyway, please rate and review and tell me what you think! btw, i'm going to change things around in the future concerning noel and yeul. i love them too much to not let them be in this :D :D lol, anyway have a good day!<br>**


	10. Chapter 10

The day that everyone looked forward to had arrived. The blistering sun set high above the heroes as they made their rounds around the village. Saying goodbye is always a difficult task; especially when you never know if you will return or not. Light said farewell to the New Bodhum Security Regiment, Sazh to the aviation school members , Snow to the members of NORA and so on. Gadot gave them a present, a communication device. It was technology they used in the days of PSICOM. He had also given one to Serah, so they could check in from time to time. Snow was very thankful to his lifelong friend. But it was time that they left, so they had to come face to face with the toughest goodbye.  
>Serah held Yun while Dia clinged onto Snow's leg,<br>"Daddy, stay here! Or take me with you! Don't leave me with Yun!"  
>Snow laughed and lifted the young child, "Sorry honey, I need you to stay here. Someone has to look out for your mommy right?"<br>Dia sighed and quickly hugged everyone, then went running back to Serah. Yun hugged Lightning, Snow and Fang but no one else. He simply waved instead, it still got the point across. Dajh made his rounds to everyone else as well. Serah stood by the door, sniffling,  
>"Now, you all make this promise to me. Please, come back home. Everyone here in town needs you. You all need to come back, please…"<br>Serah had started to full out cry. Snow went over and hugged his wife and told her how much he loved her. After he let go, Hope went over and hugged her, thanking her for letting Snow come with them. Sazh thanked her for watching Dajh and letting him be Dia's godfather. Fang and Vanille hugged Serah and apologized for a lot. Then, it was Lightning's turn.  
>"Serah, I'm so sorry."<br>"You just come home. Save it for then."  
>Lightning looked up and nodded. She hugged her sister fiercely then turned her back,<br>"Let's go everyone."  
>With that first footstep, a journey of a thousand miles began.<p>

* * *

><p>Traversing the Archylte Steppe would be no easy match. Fang figured by the time they got to Vallis Media, they would sure as hell need a break. So, on they walked. Due to them no longer having l'cie powers, the group tried their best to avoid fiends as much as possible. Vanille walked alongside Hope, holding his hand and pointing out all the beautiful flowers that stretched the landscape.<br>"And that one over there! I love that kind! That's such a pretty orchid isn't it?"  
>Vanille giggled and let go of Hope's hand to go pick the flower.<br>Her scream shocked everyone.  
>It was not a flower, but rather a terrible beast disguised as a flower. Vanille fell backwards and covered her face, hoping to lessen the blow. Hope dashed over to her and stuck out his hand. He did not have his boomerang in it, just his fist stuck out.<br>No one could believe their eyes.  
>The beast was a grassy, flower type so fire would be its natural enemy, correct? This is true, but fire should not be coming from Hope's hand.<br>But it did.  
>Everyone stood bewildered as Hope's hand had charred the beast. As it fell and burned to the ground, Hope got Vanille up quickly and took several steps back and watched. The beast began to smolder on the ground before anyone could speak.<br>Fang looked at Hope, "Well, your jig is up. Show us your brand."  
>Hope shook his head, "I'm not a l'cie Fang. I lost my brand after we woke up from the crystal five years ago."<br>"Then just how the hell did you do that?"  
>Hope looked at her, "I… I don't know. I just knew that Vanille needed me and there was no time to get my Airwing. So, I just covered her and stuck out my hand,"<br>"Then, this feeling inside me boiled up. Like… back in the old days when I would use magic. Back when we were l'cie. It was strange, like something woke up inside me."  
>Vanille walked over, "You know, I remember a story one of the old ladies told me back in Oerba long ago. They said that in every human, there's a crystal in our soul that can awaken when we need it most. It can give us amazing powers to help us along the way. Remember Fang?"<br>"Oh yes, the crystal story. I do remember now, so you're saying that story is true and Hope's crystal awoke cause you were in danger?"  
>"Yep, I think so. Hope loves me and needs to protect me and the only way he could at the time was with fire magic. So the crystal woke up and ta-da!"<br>Sazh scratched his head, "Now hold on missy, that makes no sense at all. Then explain to me how come we didn't need it years ago? Say when my wife died, huh?"  
>Vanille lowered her head. Lightning sighed,<br>"Because we had the Fal'cie doing everything for us. We didn't need any kind of help."  
>Everyone looked at her, she sighed once more.<br>"Think about it; the only thing the Fal'cie couldn't do for us was stop our death right? But they gave us medicine, food, water, light, shelter. We never really truly needed anything with them around. Now, we're left to defend ourselves. We're in a desolate area. It can be possibly that these crystals or whatever they may be are inside us."  
>Snow bumped his fists together, "So you mean that we can get our powers back?"<br>Vanille piped in, "Well, it's possible. But only in times of severe need. So, there's no telling who- or, if- we'll get our powers back. But one thing is certain; Hope is now the strongest out of all of us!"  
>She giggled and grabbed onto Hope's arm, who laughed nervously. Fang shrugged,<br>"Ha, so it's almost like the eidolons all over again huh? Oh well, no point in stressing over it right now. Let's just get to Vallis Media. We can call Serah there and ask if she knows anything."  
>The gang agreed and picked up the pace to the exit of the Steppe.<p>

* * *

><p>After arriving at Vallis Media, Snow called his wife. He explained what had happened to her, and asked if she knew anything. She told them that she heard stories about it around town, but not that it actually happened to anyone. If she heard anything else, she would call right away. Fang sighed,<br>"Well, since we're here, we might as well take a break. Let's unload for a while."  
>Everyone sighed in relief and dropped their stuff. Vanille fell to the ground and stretched out her body in the grass, Hope sat next to her while the older members found rocks to sit on. Fang sharpened the tip of her spear against a jagged rock and mumbled under her breath. Sazh looked over at her,<br>"What's wrong with you Fang?"  
>She shook her head, then got up almost furiously, "I'm really worried. How dangerous is this trip gonna be that we have to have this crystals- if that's what they even are- waking up inside us?"<br>Sazh ran a hand in his afro, which then got stuck. He took it out and spoke,  
>"Well, who knows? The only thing I know is that these dreams are really bothering Vanille. So, we gotta find the cause of 'em, right? If it's dangerous, well I guess we'll find that out later. But till then, we gotta just keep our heads up."<br>Fang looked at him, stupefied, then walked away. Lightning shook her head and Snow lowered his. Vanille frowned and Hope gripped her hand. Vanille let go of his head,  
>"No, let me go talk to her."<br>Vanille got up and kissed the top of Hope's head. She ran after Fang, who was now on the other side of the rest area. Fang was pacing back and forth, murmuring words to herself. Vanille spoke softly,  
>"What's on your mind, Fang? I know someth-"<br>"How on Pulse am I supposed to protect you Vanille? Is this trip going to be so rough that some freaking mystical power inside me has to arouse in me to save you?"  
>"You're not the only one here to protect me you know!"<br>"Oh what, you want to rely on someone else? Like who?"  
>"How about my boyfriend and our family?"<br>The shouting match had ended between the two Gran Pulsian women. Fang took a step back, stunned by Vanille's words. The pink-haired girl instantly regretted the argument. Her body shook as she spoke,  
>"Fang… weren't you the one who told me that we aren't alone anymore? That we have a new family? You know, you don't have to put so much pressure on yourself to protect me. I have Hope now. Plus, I have Snow, and Sazh and Lightning."<br>Vanille walked over to her friend and looked at her in the eyes,  
>"And you have them too, Fang. They'll protect you, just like you'll protect them. That's what families do. They sacrifice and believe in one another. That's why we're all here isn't it?"<br>Fang sighed, then smirked,  
>"Yeah, I guess I forgot about all that. You're right Vanille. Thanks for reminding me. Sorry I flew off the handle."<br>Vanille nodded and started to make their way back to the rest of the group. The girls apologized for the fight. Snow stod up and put his arms around the both of them playfully  
>"Hey now guys, remember this; we're family! We're in it to win it together! Good thing you remembered that, huh Vanille?"<br>She giggled, "Yeah but it's true! We are a family. Now and always! No matter what…"  
>Her eyes looked around to everyone's faces, then stayed on Hope's,<br>"No matter what, we stay together. We protect each other. We… we love one another."  
>Everyone smiled and nodded their heads. Hope walked over and jokingly pushed Snow's arm off Vanille's shoulder. Then, with all the love he had, he gave her a passionate kiss. Snow hollered, Sazh laughed, Fang silenty cringed but smiled and Light let out a quiet laugh. Yes, they were a family. And moments like this made them remember that they are.<br>But… how long would that last?

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><p><strong>long chapter, yay! i hope you guys like it! and i wanna give a shoutout to everyone who has favorited this story! i love getting e-mails from that!<br>and a super shoutout to Kushina Batoretto, Purple-Tacos-R-Da-Bomb and Snow in Starlight Moon for the reviews! loved them!  
>i'm thinking next chapter i introduce Noel and Yeul :D so excited, i love them so much.<br>reviews are always welcome! thanks for reading guys! :D :D :D  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 11

By now, the group made their way to through the Yachas Massif and were close to the Paddra Ruins. They avoided many fights, but the few uglies that popped up were easy to take out. Especially thanks to Hope's magic and Lightning's strength. As they got closer to the ruins, Hope started to explain the history of Paddra.  
>"From what we know, some terrible beast came and attacked the city. The seeress, who could see the future, tried to stop it. But in the end, she died. With the last bit of her power she was able to keep the monster away, but legend says that one day it will return with a vengeance."<br>Fang looked at him, flabbergasted, "How come you know more about our planet then we do?"  
>Hope laughed, "Reading is fun. You learn a lot."<br>They all laughed. The path had become a little more narrow as they walked. Sazh was next to Light, while Snow cracked jokes with Fang. Hope held Vanille's hand, but she was behind them. She looked around at the scenery. Then she noticed that even with the high mountains, you can still see Cocoon and the pillar which she was once imprisoned in.  
>"Hey guys, don't you ever wonder about the pillar? I mean, with Fang and I not in there, is it going to collapse?"<br>Snow chuckled, "Hey, leave that to your boyfriend. That's sciency stuff."  
>Hope smiled and looked at his love, "When we get back, I'm gonna look into it for you. The Sanctum is starting a new science branch called The Academy. They've offered me a high up position."<br>Vanille grinned widely and hugged closer onto Hope's arm. Lightning looked back and turned her head, as if she knew something that she wasn't sharing.

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><p>An opening appeared in front of the group. There before them laid the ruins of the ancient city Paddra. The metropolis had been dead for thousands of years; the walls no longer could stand on their own. Bricks were strewn about the area, plants grew through the cracks in the cement and there was debris and rocks everywhere. Lightning found an old spear that she showed to Fang.<br>"Looks like mine, but this is an older model. Mine was fashioned based off this."  
>Vanille scoured the area and found an old rag doll in between some of the rubble. She bent down to her knees and held the doll. Snow looked at her and scratched his head,<br>"Yeah, sometimes we forget that the ruins we visit were once home to many people."  
>Sazh put a hand on his shoulder, then took it off and walked over to another area,<br>"We forget that a lot. That people died here. That this area was once a battleground. That this area may once have been…" He looked at the doll Vanille held in her hands, "A playground…"  
>Vanille stood up and clutched onto the doll, "It's so sad, to think like that…"<br>Hope walked over to her, "It is sad. But now, we can't forget their story. What happened to them… we should never forget."  
>Everyone nodded and were silent for moment, almost as if to say a prayer for the people of Paddra.<br>That moment was cut off very suddenly when a behemoth like beast appeared in front of the group. It jumped down from a higher up ledge and swiped it's paw as if to warn them that he was going to attack. Everyone drew their weapons, expecting a long fight. Snow bumped his fists together,  
>"Alright big guy you want 'em? Gotta get through me first!"<br>Snow threw a few hits at the beast, but to no avail. Lightning tisked, then ran in and cut the beast a couple of times. The beast threw Lightning back into a pillar. As she screamed, Vanille went over to check on her while Fang and Sazh tried to attack. Hope panicked. He knew he was going to have to use magic. With all of his might, he cast a fire spell at the monster. It wailed out in pain and tried to attack Hope.  
>"Yeul, stay back! I just found us dinner!"<br>A brown haired boy came jumping through the ruins. Everyone looked up and saw him from a high up pillar. The boy jumped and landed on the monsters back with two swords in hand,  
>"Sorry buddy, but I gotta eat too!"<br>With a single strike, the boy stuck his blades into the monster right into the area that seemed to be where the main organ system was. The beast cried out for a few seconds then fell to the ground and died. The boy took out his weapons and jumped off the back. He called out to his companion,  
>"Come on and jump Yeul. I'll catch you."<br>The girl appeared over the ledge. She hesitated, then closed her eyes and leaped over. As she fell, the gang walked closer to the boy. Even Lightning, with a little support from Vanille. Like he promised, the boy caught her and put her on the ground then averted his eyes to the travelers.  
>"And just who are you guys?"<br>Sazh cocked his head, "Like hell, we can ask you the same thing? How the hell did you just stab that thing dead?"  
>The girl spoke softly, "Now, this isn't the time to fight. We can all be civil and answer questions, right Noel?"<br>She looked at her friend and he nodded his head. She smiled and spoke again while looking at the heroes,  
>"My name is Paddra Psu Yeul. This is my guardian Noel Kreiss. Who are you?"<br>Everyone introduced themselves. Yeul took notice when Vanille and Fang said their names.  
>"Oerba? So you are originally from Gran Pulse?"<br>Fang nodded, "Yeah we are, but how come you say you're from Paddra? I really don't think you lived here more then a thousand years ago."  
>Yeul shook her head, "No, I did not. However I am the see-"<br>Noel cut her off quickly, "Yeul are you sure we should be telling them?"  
>She smiled, as if she had known something about the group, "I trust these people Noel. Don't worry. As I was saying, I am the seeress. I am reborn each time the Yeul before me dies. It is an endless cycle. But the original Yeul did come from Paddra. So, it seems only right that every Yeul has the name Paddra Psu."<br>Lightning spoke,  
>"So you're a reincarnation?"<br>"Yes, you could call it that."  
>Sazh asked, "And what's with Stretch over there?" He pointed to Noel. Noel spoke,<br>"I'm the Guardian of the Seeress. I have the ability to cast magic and do whatever I have to so I can protect every Yeul. But, I'm also a hunter. That's how come I knew where to strike the monster before. Weren't you gonna ask me that again?"  
>Sazh grumbled and turned his head to the side. Vanille walked closer to Yeul,<br>"So, you are the Yeul I heard stories about as a child. To be honest, I didn't think you existed."  
>Yeul giggled a little, "Some people really don't believe I exist even though there is proof."<br>Everyone looked at her with strained eyes, waiting to know what the proof was. Yeul turned a little pink and spoke quickly,  
>"Well, why don't we eat together? This monster is far too much for Noel and I to eat on our own. Will you join us?"<br>The heroes were shocked by her offer. Of course Snow spoke up first, how could he turn down a free meal?  
>"Sure, we'd love to! Fang and Vanille here know how to cook this baby up to perfection. Hey, since you guys killed it, who don't we cook it huh? It's only fair!"<br>Yeul laughed and Noel grunted. He already hated this Snow character with a passion; seemed like a jackass.

* * *

><p>As Vanille cooked up the food with Fang, Sazh and the others sat around in a circle talking about themselves to the newcomers. They explained their triumph five years ago over Orphan and saved the worlds. Yeul nodded,<br>"Yes, I knew this. I have seen it."  
>Lightning looked at her, "So you mean you saw us fighting? You saw what Barthandelus was doing to Cocoon?"<br>Yeul nodded her head slightly. Light began to twitch her fingers,  
>"So then why didn't you do or say anything huh?" She rose to her feet; as did Noel in a protective stance,<br>"You saw what that sick bastard was doing. You saw innocent lives being lost! You saw us struggle and nearly die to defend ourselves and save people we love and you did nothing?"  
>Lightning's face was full of rage and it was all directed toward Yeul. Snow got up to try and restrain Light from doing something reckless. Noel stood in front of Yeul,<br>"Hey! It wasn't her choice! She was here on Pulse, what could she have done?"  
>"If she saw us on our journey she would have damn well known where we were and even at what times! She could have come talk to us and possibly helped us!"<br>Lightning struggled to try and get out of Snow's grasp. Noel's hand slowly moved his swords, but Yeul's hand stopped him. Her expression was calm, almost a eerie, serene look. She poked her head from behind Noel's back,  
>"It's true I saw you struggle. But I also saw you triumph, there was no need for me to intervene."<br>Lightning was totally enraged now, "But you couldn't come and tell us? You couldn't let us know that what we were doing was right? You let us live in doubt, feeling like the entire journey was all in vain? You let Snow and I feel like we couldn't save Serah… if you saw everything you could have even stopped the Purge! You could have found Fang and Vanille and stopped them!"  
>The Pulsaian women shiver simultaneously. Lightning continued her shouting,<br>"You could have saved thousands of lives Yeul! Sazh's son would never had been a victim of the Sanctum Fal'cie and taken captive. My sister would have never been a l'cie, Hope's mother would still be alive! We all would have never had to fight or get hurt or anything! It's all because of you!"  
>Lightning spat those words out at Yeul. Yeul's calm expression now had left her, washing over her face with sorrow and regret. Light stopped trying to attack her and escaped Snow's bond. Lightning spit on the ground and walked away from the area.<br>There was nothing but silence.  
>Silence and tears from many of the travelers, including Yeul.<p>

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><p><strong>omg angry lightning is no one to mess with man xD haha i really loved writing that part.<br>i have more planned for noel and yeul. it's gonna seem weird and all but this is my story and i'll do what i want with it xD lol.  
>btw, how do you guys feel about like lightningnoel flirting? idk why but that just sounds so great to me, even though i love serah/noel waaaay more.**

**OH shoutout to OerbaDiaVanille (kickass pen name btw!) for the great review! i had such a bad day and it really made me feel better :D  
><strong>

**thanks for continuing to read guys! i appreciate and love all of you! :D  
><strong>


	12. Chapter 12

As Lightning stomped off, Snow looked at the others. Tears were flowing from Vanille's eyes, Fang's fists were balled up and tense, Hope turned his head to the side to try and hide his emotions and Sazh fell down to the ground. Snow shook his head and ran after Light to try and talk to her. He caught up to her and tried to grab her shoulder,  
>"Hey, why did you say all of that huh?"<br>Light jerked away from his touch. She snapped back on her heels and punched him square in the jaw. Snow took a few steps back and rubbed his mouth, "What the hell? You haven't punched me in years!"  
>"You're an idiot Snow! You can't possibly tell me you weren't thinking the same thing! That girl… or whatever she is could have saved everyone! This all could have been prevented!"<br>"And think about it Lightning, would we all know each other? Would we all be a family? Would we even be together right now?"  
>Lightning opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. As much as she hated to admit it, Snow was right. If it hadn't been for the events before, after and during the Purge they wouldn't be here now. Lightning would never have known Vanille, Fang Sazh or even Hope. Serah and Snow may not have gotten married which means Dia and Yun would never have been born. Her life forever changed when her sister turned into a l'cie, but it changed for the better. Sure, they had really rough points and times when they thought they were going to break down. However in the end, her current life was great and she never wanted to change it. Instantly, she felt regret for the harsh words she said to Yeul and her protector Noel. They just met and she was treating them as if they were enemies. Lightning lowered her head in shame,<br>"Let's go back. I have to apologize."  
>Snow sighed and turned his body to start walking back to the camp.<br>"I'm sorry for hitting you, Snow."  
>Snow smirked then waved his hand, as if to brush it off. Light smiled slightly. She hated to say it but Snow really was her brother and she cared for him deeply. She followed in his huge footsteps back to the area.<p>

* * *

><p>Soon, the ruins came into view for the Snow and Light. Vanille and Hope sat together, his chin resting on top of her head as he tried to console her. Fang studied the ruin's remains with Sazh while Noel stood alone atop a high piece of rubble. The seeress was nowhere in sight. Light scoured the area,<br>"Where is Yeul?"  
>Hope shook his head, "She went off to be alone. She asked Noel to stay here, much to his dismay."<br>Lightning looked up at the man standing on the rocks. His back was turned but she could see he was tense. She took a deep breath and jumped up the rocks in a quick fashion. She tried to speak but he cut her off,  
>"You got her so upset with herself that she wouldn't even let me, her damn Guardian go with her."<br>Light lowered her head, "I'm sorry."  
>Noel turned his body and for a second, Lightning was blinded by him. His beauty shocked her, not because he was beautiful but because she never thought that way about a man before. She shook her head,<br>"Look, I'm sure Yeul had her reasons as to why she didn't talk to us five years ago. That's fine with me, because I realized something. If she stopped us, then…"  
>Light stopped to look down at her friends. She then turned her head back to Noel and smiled,<br>"Then right now, we all wouldn't be together. They wouldn't be my family. And you and I would not even be here right now."  
>Noel gasped; it almost seemed as if she was enjoying the time that she was sharing with him. He didn't mind it either. He spoke,<br>"Yeah well, I'm glad you finally realized that you were wrong. But, I'm also glad you're willing to apologize for it."  
>Lightning was startle by that comment. One minute he's arrogant and the next, he's nice? She didn't understand him at all, but she was intrigued by it. She jumped up a bit higher to stand next to him. Her presence next to him scared him a bit, but that fear was washed away almost instantly. With her standing next to him, Noel felt this warmth; an electricity between them that he did not mind at all. But what were these feelings that were overcoming him? He stopped to look at her. She was incredibly gorgeous, with pinkish-lavender hair flowing in the wind. Noel's heart went a mile a minute, what the hell was going on with him? She looked at him,<br>"Which way did she go?"  
>Noel stopped gawking and pointed north. Lightning nodded and smiled,<br>"Catch you later."  
>With amazing grace, Light winked at him as she jumped off the high rubble, front flipped mid-air and landed on her feet. Noel's heart stopped when she winked, and Light's heart stopped when she winked and saw a bit of his reaction. She smiled and started to walk towards where Yeul was.<p>

* * *

><p>Her scream shocked everyone.<br>Noel jumped off the rocks and stumbled onto the ground as he sprinted to where Yeul was. Sazh and the others followed as best they could. Noel and Lightning ran in sync to see where the seeress had fallen. Yeul laid in a patch of grass that grew randomly in the ruins. Her eyes were open in a awkward, almost creepy stare. Noel got down on the ground to hold her and tried to snap her out of it. The rest of the group finally got there and watched in horror. Was she alive, was she dead? Vanille covered her mouth to try and hide how she felt, while everyone else stared and grimaced. Yeul suddenly snapped out of it and Noel sighed,  
>"Another vision, huh? Dammit all…"<br>Yeul smiled, "But it was a happy vision… you were so happy Noel."  
>Then Yeul passed out from exhaustion. Noel punched the ground,<br>"Another part of her life, gone as if it had never existed."  
>Sazh looked at him, "What on earth do you mean?"<br>"I mean everytime the future changes, Yeul sees it and looses a part of her life. The future changes so much that Yeul dies by the time she is 15. She just turned 15 not that long ago. Something happened to me in the future that Yeul saw… and it slowly killed her."

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><p><strong>yay for light and noel semi-flirtingbeing attracted to one another! idk, i feel like this chapter was boring xP but did you like, get the hint of what yeul's vision was? i hope so, i feel like i made it semi-obvious :P but in the next chapter the journey continues with noel and yeul! :D**  
><strong>oh, tell me what you think, should this be a loooong fanfic or a short one? i need to know what you guys think, it will affect my writing in the future!<strong>  
><strong>okay, i love you guys for reading and i appreciate that you read it! see you next chapter! :D<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Night was drawing close over the Paddra Ruins. Yeul still had not awoken from passing out after her vision earlier that day. Noel was pacing around muttering to himself that she had never been out for this long, or that her visions had never been about him. Lightning felt uneasy when she watched Noel walk around but for the strangest reason, she had no idea why. Hope was holding Vanille close while she watched the seeresses sleeping body. Sazh was cleaning off his guns, Snow was practicing some punches and Fan sat with her head in her hands. She finally had enough and got up,  
>"Alright there Noel, start explaining more about what is wrong with that girl and why we can't do anything."<br>"Didn't I already tell you? It's the curse- or, I should say 'blessing',- that is given to every Yeul. She has the power to see the future and all of its possibilities. But every time she does, a portion of her life is just zapped from her, gone into thin air. The way it works out is that all of her life is drained from her by the time she is around 15. I've only been with this Yeul for a short amount of time. Before me, my mentor Caius watched over her. She is very healthy as a child but as she gets older and sees more visions she gets sicker and weaker, sometimes making it difficult to snap her out of her visions."  
>Vanille got up from Hope's hug and walked over to Yeul's sleeping body. She reached out and took her hand,<br>"Hey, you're gonna be alright. But, you have to wake up now. There are people here who care about you and want to talk to you; we want to know what you saw. You said it was happy, so I'd love to hear it! You just have to come back to us now…"  
>Yeul's fingers twitched, almost as if in response to Vanille's words. Noel ran closer and was in shock,<br>"How did you…?"  
>"Oh, it's not all that complicated. Just talk to the girl! Let her know you're there for her, just like when Hope talked to me in the crystal pillar."<br>Hope smiled brightly, he was so glad she remembered that. He walked over and crouched down to sit next to his lover and speak to Yeul,  
>"Vanille is right, Yeul. I know we've only known each other for a short amount of time, but I want to talk to you again. I want to get to know you better, we all do. And you have to wake up, Lightning really wants to apologize. She's actually a great person; you have to give her the chance."<br>Lightning stiffened her body and felt horrible. But that horrible feeling washed away when Yeul opened her eyes and yawned loudly. Noel instantly fell to the ground,  
>"Thank Etro you woke up."<br>Everyone gave a sigh of relief. Sazh smiled, he was so happy to see her wake up. Call it his soft spot for kids. Snow thrusted his fist into the air; a sign of happiness. Fang clapped her hands while Vanille hugged Hope and whispered into his ear that she loved him very much. Lightning walked over to the sleepy girl, who was sitting up and stretching. Light offered her a hand,  
>"I'm so sorry. I'm so thankful you're alive and awake."<br>Yeul smiled, it looked good on her. She took Light's hand and nodded as she got up,  
>"Thank you everyone. And I accept your apology Lightning, thank you as well."<br>Everyone was smiling and laughing, it was all okay now.

* * *

><p>As the group sat around, Lightning looked over at Noel and once again got the butterflies in her stomach,<br>"So, where will you two go?"  
>Noel shrugged his shoulders,<br>"Beats me. We're kinda just gonna go where the wind takes us I guess."  
>Yeul shook her head violently,<br>"No Noel! We have to go with them!"  
>The heroes all looked stunned at the young girl. Noel was as shocked too,<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"These people care about me. They care about you; about us! We should stay with them and help to find the Lost Temple of Anima! Maybe I can connect with my past lives to see-"<br>Noel cut her off, "Woah woah woah why are you so excited to travel with them all of a sudden huh?"  
>"Well because you and Li-" She covered her mouth quickly.<br>Everyone looked at her intensely, especially Light and Noel. She laughed,  
>"Nothing! Noel, as your Seeress I say we go with them. Okay? Good!"<br>Yeul walked over and started to clean up her things. Noel had his mouth hanging open, wondering what the hell just happened. Light smirked then closed his jaw with her hand,  
>"Relax. She'll tell you in time."<br>Her hand felt suddenly warm, just like how Noel's chin felt warm after she touched him. Once again, that electric feeling went between them. He shook his head and sighed, then looked over at Hope,  
>"So where are you heading to get to the temple?"<br>"We aren't sure. We came here to see if we could find any clues."  
>Fang pointed over to the other side of the area, "Well Hope, you think you can read that over there?"<br>The wall that she pointed to stood as high as the eye can see. Many cracks covered it, along with writing. Hope walked over and felt the wall,  
>"These have to be from the people who lived in Paddra. They look like hieroglyphics, I can't really read them."<br>Yeul walked over, past the group and to the wall. She put her hand on the wall and closed her eyes and spoke softly,

"_Welcome to Paddra, a city of Dreams.  
>An area drawn together, even at the seams.<br>North of this place there lies a palace,  
>Where people will find gold and malice.<br>But should you seek to go further,  
>The Fal'cie Anima will commit murder.<em>"

Everyone stopped breathing for a moment. How on Pulse did she do that? Noel ran over and touched her shoulder,  
>"Y-yeul? What just happened?"<br>She shook her head, "I'm not very sure. I closed my eyes and tried to see if my past lives could help me or something. Then, all of a sudden, I started to speak. I had no control over what I said."  
>Sazh put his hand on top of his afro, "So, you mean you pretty much just went all magical, mystical seeress on us and got the answer. Hey, I'm not argueing."<br>Snow got excited, "Well hey, this is what we originally came here for! Alright, we go north tomorrow baby!"  
>Lightning frowned, "I don't know. I didn't like the sounds of that."<br>Fang walked up to her, "But, didn't you guys kill off Anima five years ago? Which by the way if the old people from Oerba were still around, they'd kick your ass."  
>"Still, 'a palace where you'll find gold and malice'? Something evil may be waiting for us there, we have to be prepared."<br>Noel looked at Yeul,  
>"You sure you still want to go?"<br>Yeul nodded quickly, so Noel sighed and threw his hands up in the air in defeat. If this is what she wanted, then he really had no choice. It was getting late so everyone set up their beds for the night. Snow sat up against one of the walls and made his outer jacket into a pillow, while Sazh laid on his stomach and relied the comfort of his arms and huge afro. Fang laid down close to the men while using her furs as comfort. Vanille and Hope cuddled close to one another, using Vanille's furs as well. Light ended up close to Noel. She couldn't tell if she was happy or upset about that. The electric feeling was still there, even though they weren't talking or touching. She couldn't shake it off, no matter how hard she tried to not think about it. She hated this; it was almost as if she was in high school again with the silly crushes.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the night, Vanille's eyes opened. Her head was buried in Hope's chest while he breathed deeply. She looked up at the man she loved and smiled, then finagled herself out of his grasp. She looked at everyone else who was sleeping soundly. Yeul was next to Noel, whose body and face was facing Lightning. Her body did the same thing and faced him. Vanille giggled softly, he could tell something very interesting was going to happen between them. She got up and walked up to the patch of grass where they found Yeul earlier that day. Vanille looked up to see Cocoon and all its former glory lighting the night sky with its aqua glow. She looked up and made the symbol of prayer she used all the time with her hands. Her index fingers touched while her pinkies crossed over and the rest of her hands folded into one another. She spoke quietly, as to not disturb her friends,<br>"Please, let this journey be safe. I don't want anyone to get hurt or die. I couldn't bear it if that happened. And please, let Noel and Yeul be happy with the choice they've made. If they got hurt because of me and my selfish journey, I don't know what I'd do."  
>Hope awoke and saw that his lover was gone. He picked up his head quickly and looked all over. He noticed her far away in the middle of the ruins. He got up and tiptoed over there, trying not to wake up everyone. Fang can be a real sour puss if she is woken up in the middle of the night. He arrived near the middle and saw Vanille talking to herself. He knew she was probably praying, but he didn't know to who but he didn't want to interrupt, so he let her continue. She sighed,<br>"The nightmare keeps coming back every night. I don't know if this is a sign but it doesn't matter. I will continue and fight. I will protect the people that I love and our new friends. I will stay by Hope's side, no matter what goes on. Five years ago, I made a promise that I wouldn't run away anymore, so I will keep that promise. This is my journey, and I will press onward."  
>She smiled, confident in the words she just said. She turned to leave when she was startled by Hope coming out of the shadows. She blushed,<br>"You heard all that?"  
>"Yeah, I did. Are you alright?"<br>She looked down, "Yeah, I guess so."  
>Hope walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "No guessing. Tell me, are you alright or not?"<br>She shook her head, "I think I am, after I said all that. I guess I just needed to let out how I've felt."  
>Hope hugged his girlfriend and rested his cheek on top of her head, "Can I ask something?"<br>She nodded, eager to hear what he had to ask.  
>"Who exactly do you pray to?"<br>She laughed, "Honestly? Anyone who will listen. As a child in Oerba, I prayed to Anima. But since Anima is no longer around, I just pray to the spirit of Anima, or to any of the other Fal'cie. I just pray to make myself feel better. If I get these feelings off my chest, I feel a lot better."  
>Hope frowned and sighed a little bit. Vanille move her head to look at him,<br>"What is it?"  
>"You know if something is bothering you, you can talk to me about it right? I mean, I am your boyfriend. It's in my job description to listen and pay attention."<br>She smiled and placed her small hand on his cheek, "I know that. But I can't pray to you can I? That would be just a little weird."  
>They both stopped to laugh. Sazh snorted in the distance, causing them to quiet don but laugh even more. Vanille stopped and looked up at her man,<br>"I know I can talk to you. But this wasn't bothering me. I just wanted to reassure myself that this as all worth it. That in the end, I will be able to do the things I said."  
>Hope kissed her forehead, "I know you will. I have faith."<br>She laughed, "Oh you have faith too? Who do you pray to?"  
>He shook his head and smiled, "I have faith in the future. Faith that at the end of the day, everything will be just fine. I don't really pray, I just believe."<br>Vanille widened her eyes, what he said just made a lot of sense. What she needed to do was to believe. She needed to believe in herself, Hope and everyone else. Having faith and praying was fine and all, but to make those prayers come true, she needed to believe that they could come true. She would always remember that. She tiptoed and kissed her love passionately on the lips, which came as a surprise to Hope. He broke away and chuckled,  
>"What was that for? Not that I'm objecting to it."<br>"That was for being the best guy, ever."  
>Hope smiled and took her hand. They walked back to the campsite and laid back down to sleep. Sazh opened one eye and smiled at the young couple. He'll let it slide that they woke him up many times.<p>

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><p><strong>yay long chapter! :D<br>**

**okay, i want to explain a few things so that way there is no confusion.**  
><strong>1) i am not a fan of snow, i think he's a tool. so you'll kind of notice that in my writing :P personally, i like lightxsnow, serahxnoel TENNN times better, but i digress.<strong>  
><strong>2) i forgot that in an earlier chapter, i wrote the chocobos in to travel with everyone, whoops! oh well, no one noticed :P<strong>  
><strong>3) i know lightxnoel may seem weird to some people, but to me, i want light to find a little romance. so i wrote it in, oh well :P i kinda like how it's not really romantic touching, but more like a bond.<strong>  
><strong>4) serah and the kids will come back into the picture soon, have no fear.<strong>  
><strong>5) there will be more vanillexhope going on, i promise! i know i've kinda slid away from that but we're gonna fix that.<strong>  
><strong>6) i am not the best rhymerriddle writer in the world, so please bear with me :P they will appear more as they travel on**

**whew, long A/N :P but i hope that cleared anything up that people may have been thinking. if this chapter seemed like filler, i apologize. i HAAAAATE filler, so i will try not to do that anymore!**  
><strong>BIG shoutout to yunabesaid who reviewed every chapter! thank youuu~! it made me so happy to have like 20 e-mails waiting for me!<strong>

**okay, this A/N needs to end now... i love you all, and thanks for reading! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Morning came far too quickly to the heroes. Light began to wake everyone up; they had a lot of road to travel. Hope looked around the area,  
>"Well, the riddle is right. The only way to get out of here is to go north. After that, I'm not exactly sure where we would be."<br>Fang put her spear on her back and tied her furs back on her waist, "Well, maybe there will be more riddles or writings to tell us where we are. We do have our resident hieroglyphic reader with us now."  
>Fang winked at Yeul. She nodded her head and looked at Noel,<br>"Are you ready to go? It's very exciting, isn't it?"  
>Noel nodded his head. Somewhere, in the back of his head, he had a feeling something was not going to go well. But he couldn't say anything to her; she was so happy. How could he be the one to take that smile off her little face? Light started walking,<br>"Well, let's go everyone."  
>And so, they traveled onwards.<p>

* * *

><p>They made their way out of the Paddra ruins and found themselves in an area that strangely reminded them of the Steppe. Snow looked around,<br>"Wait a sec, are we back where we pretty much started?"  
>Sazh shook his head, "Nah, I doubt it. 'Sides, this place looks way different. More mountains."<br>Vanille was, of course, bouncing around the area. She gasped and looked at Yeul and Fang,  
>"Hey wait! Are these the Halleluiah Mountains?"<br>Yeul nodded,  
>"Yes, they are. The mountains you can see all over Pulse. The story says that if you were to climb the highest mountain, you would come into contact with the Maker."<br>The Maker. The group shuddered at the thought. Thanks to the Maker, Barthandelus went all berserk five years ago, causing the problems that Light and the others went through. Fang snapped out of it,  
>"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this place. Didn't some guy from Oerba try to come here and climb the highest one?"<br>Vanille shook her head. Honestly, she didn't remember anyone from home trying to come here. She only knew about this place because her grandmother used to talk about them all the time. The only thing they could do now was walk past them and keep going north. Noel walked ahead and kept his swords out. Light was worried,  
>"What is it?"<br>"I don't trust this area. I can feel the monsters. I'd rather be prepared then be food."  
>Lightning looked over at Hope, whose face went serious. She was glad that he would be able to defend himself and Vanille. But then, Vanille stopped walking.<br>"Something doesn't feel right."  
>From a distance, the roaring pack of mutated dogs could be heard. They ran knit-tight close and started to charge at the group. Yeul ran away, having no way of defending herself. Everyone took out their weapons and started to attack. Vanille and Fang tag-teamed,<br>"Hey Vanille! Go fish!"  
>Vanille laughed and used her Binding Rod's power. She lashed out the whip-like tentacles and caught one of the dogs in her grasp. Fang focused all her energy and bashed the monster. Her rod began to glow into a yellow color. Without even realizing it, Fang had casted Enthunder on her spear. She just continued to beat down the dog until it stayed down. Vanille gasped and looked at her,<br>"Fang! What did you just do?"  
>Fang looked down and was shocked at what she had seen. It seems the crystal within her awoke. She quickly looked over at her friends who needed help. She went over to Snow and hit the dog he was fighting. Snow was in shock,<br>"Hey Fang! I think that crystal story is true!"  
>Noel smirked from afar. Hope casted a few lightning spells and before they knew it, the dogs had been defeated. Noel walked over to Fang and Hope,<br>"Well, looks like your crystals spawned."  
>Lightning looked at him, "So it is true then? There is some crystal thing inside of us?"<br>Yeul walked over to a flower bud that had yet to bloom, "Imagine it like this flower. It stays dormant and grows in the ground until it's ready. Once that happens it just,"  
>And with a simple touch of her finger, the flower bloomed brightly. She smiled,<br>"It explodes."  
>Vanille was shocked how she did that. Everyone looked as if she had magic in her as well. Noel laughed,<br>"Hello? How could you not expect the seeress to have magic? You guys aren't the brightest crayons in the box, huh?"  
>Everyone laughed. As of now, Fang and Hope had powers, as well as Noel and Yeul. Lightning thought this would make things easier in tough situations.<p>

* * *

><p>Past the mountains the gang came across another set of ruins. They weren't as large as the Paddra Ruins; it looked more like a little village. Vanille looked around,<br>"I've never heard of this area before."  
>Lightning sighed, "It was probably just a small tribe of some sort. It was probably wiped out by the beast that destroyed Paddra."<br>Yeul cringed slightly. She tried to change the subject,  
>"Well, let's look around. We should try to see if there are more clues here."<br>Everyone agreed and started to look. Noel looked at her, worried,  
>"Is it…?"<br>"Oh it's nothing. Now go look!"  
>Yeul turned his body and pushed him towards Lightning. He stumbled and fell right next to her. Lightning moved her foot and looked at him. Her heart stopped for a second. She didn't know if she should offer a hand to help him up, or let him do it himself. It was too late, though, as he picked himself up and laughed nervously. Light couldn't help but smile and start to small-talk with him while they searched the area. Yeul smiled to herself, looks like that vision would come true. Snow shouted,<br>"Hey Yeul! Over here! Found us some hieroglyphics!"  
>Everyone walked over to see what it was. Noel asked Light,<br>"Is he always this annoying?"  
>Lightning smiled, "Oh, you have no idea."<br>Snow bumped his fists and threw an arm around Sazh, boasting his superiority of finding the clue. Hope rolled his eyes; someone's ego was rather large. Yeul put her hand to the wall, the same as she did in Paddra and spoke,  
><em><br>"Spirit of Yojimbo, guide the way.  
>Troubles are facing the world today.<br>The Fal'cie are growing enraged,  
>Sooner or later, they will no longer be caged.<br>If you decide to go forward,  
>A beast will greet you with a sword."<em>

"The Fal'cie are enraged? About what?" Hope was confused. In the five years they've lived on Gran Pulse, the Fal'cie have simply ignored them and continued on with their business.  
>"I'm not exactly sure. The people of Pulse have always respected them. Growing up, we were taught that we co-existed peacefully with them." Fang shook her head, "I mean really, what could they be mad about?"<br>"Maybe it was the war? Or even the migration from Cocoon to Pulse?" For once, Snow said something smart. Vanille looked up at the pillar and formed her hands into the prayer form and closed her eyes and spoke,  
>"Maybe whatever it is that makes them mad hasn't happened yet. Yeul, do you know?"<br>Yeul looked hesitant to answer, then softly said, "No."  
>Noel looked at her with curious eyes. Lightning spoke up,<br>"It doesn't matter right now about the Fal'cie. What about the beast with a sword? We'll really have to prepare ourselves then. Yeul, Noel, Fang and Hope; you will be our biggest strengths since you can cast magic. We should stay around here and plan our next move."  
>Everyone nodded and made their ways around the ruins to explore.<p>

* * *

><p>Fang, Hope and Vanille stayed with each other. Hope asked,<br>"Hey, do you guys know who Yojimbo is?"  
>Fang answered, "Well, I vaguely remember his story. They said he was once a human; a bandit actually. He was travelling but got lost and one day, he was turned into a l'cie."<br>"The power in him," Vanille continued, "grew so large that his human form could no longer contain it. He was transformed into a Fal'cie, but still retained his human emotions. They said that Yojimbo disappeared into the night, but you could always find him if you truly needed him. He would help you find the way."  
>"Dang Vanille, you remember the old stories better than me." Fang laughed and nudge her playfully. Vanille giggled,<br>"That's because my grandma wouldn't let me go play with my friends until I understood the stories she was telling me. Your dad kept you out all the time cause he was training you to be a fighter!"  
>Fang laughed. She missed the good old days in Oerba. It never really crossed her mind how much she actually missed her home and her family from Oerba. But she loved her new life and her new family, yet she still wished that she could have the best of both worlds.<p>

* * *

><p>Noel and Yeul walked side by side, looking around the area. Noel spoke to the young seeress,<br>"You know you haven't been totally honest with me since we've met these people."  
>Yeul's eyes widened, then she shut them, "What do you mean?"<br>"You haven't told them about the Oracle Drive, the past of Paddra and you haven't told us the vision you had yesterday. And, you didn't tell them about the future regarding these hieroglyphics. What gives, Yeul?"  
>Yeul frowned, "I once heard a saying; 'It's better to die with hope, then live with despair.' Doesn't that apply to this situation now?"<br>Noel was shocked. He didn't know what to say to the girl. What had she seen that bothered her so much as to not tell her new friends? And what was on the Oracle Drive that she did not want them to see? He lowered his head,  
>"But it's also better to know the truth, then live a lie."<br>Yeul's frown didn't disappear. She decided to change the subject,  
>"Do you want to know what I saw yesterday?"<br>Noel stopped walking and turned around to look at her, waiting for her response.  
>"I saw you and Lightning, together and very much in love. You were the happiest I've ever seen."<br>Noel blushed slightly. He didn't know how to respond to that. For one, he had feelings for Lightning but had no idea they would ever become feelings of love. And second, he felt terrible that Yeul lost a part of her life seeing him so happy; even though the odds were against her seeing that happiness in real life.  
>"I do not regret seeing what I saw. I am very happy about it. I didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want to jinx it. So please, as my Guardian I ask you to not tell Lightning. Tell her or anyone else nothing we've spoken of. The vision from yesterday, Paddra's past, the Oracle Drive or the hieroglyphics. Swear that to me, Noel."<br>He gritted his teeth and nodded slightly, "I swear."  
>Yeul walked past him and continued to walk forward. Noel looked at her and sighed, such is the life of a Guardian.<p>

* * *

><p>Lightning, Snow and Sazh explored the other part of the ruins. Sazh grumbled,<br>"It's sick walking around here. This is probably a graveyard and we don't even know the name of this damn place."  
>Snow rested his hands on the back of his head, "Well, maybe we'll find the name of the tribe who lived here. And we'll do a moment of silence later. We gotta show respect."<br>Lightning nodded and looked off into the distance. There was a bad feeling growing inside of her that she just couldn't shake off. Something was coming, and she didn't know what it was. It was horrible, she wanted it to go away. Sazh looked at her,  
>"Hey missy, you alright?"<br>She shook her head, "I'm not sure. Doesn't something feel off to either one of you?"  
>Snow looked confused, "Well not us. It's probably you just making a situation seem worse then it usually is."<br>Oh how she wishes this man was not the father of her niece and nephew. She tisked and walked forward, pas the two bumbling men. She knew it, that deep down something horrible was going to happen; she just couldn't put her finger on it.  
>However, when the monster jumped in front of her, she knew.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>boy, i am writing long chapter these days. i love it! :D<strong>  
><strong>so, thank you very much to my faithful reviewers (you know who you are :D) i love getting them so much.<strong>  
><strong>oh, i also just want it known that in the actual game, you can't go further then the paddra ruins so i'm not left to make my own creations. hopefully you all like them.<strong>  
><strong> i hope everyone is liking how it's going but tell me if you don't, or even if you do! i love getting PM's and reviews! :D<strong>  
><strong>i love you all and see you next time! <strong>


	15. Chapter 15

Quickly, Light drew her gunblade and began shooting at the monster. It was an Ochu, and a rather ugly one at that. Snow started pounding at the grassy beast while Sazh was shooting and shouting,  
>"Hey guys, get your narrow asses over here! We need some help!"<br>Yeul stood far away and casted a few spells while Noel ran in head first to fight with his twin blades. Vanille stood with Yeul and threw out her rod's whips to attack. Fang tried to cast harmful spells against the beast, but nothing was sticking. Hope threw his Airwing and casted spells too, in hopes of beating the Ochu. The battle lasted then anyone really expected. Lightning began to fume,  
>"This needs to end, now!"<br>Light's gunblade began to glow. She started to perform her Army of One move, which she hasn't done in five years. Noel watched her as she majestically swung her blade around. Hope shouted at her,  
>"Light, your crystal!"<br>Light backflipped and looked down, he was right. Lightning's powers had been restored. A evil grin slowly stretched across her face. She began casting spells like a madwoman and within a couple minutes, the Ochu went down. Vanille bounced over and laughed,  
>"And that my friends, if proof why you never get on Lightning's bad side."<br>Lightning blushed slightly, embarrassed that her rage took over her like that. Snow threw an arm around his sister-in-law,  
>"Hey, what do you know! Three down, three to go! It sucks though, I was the first to get my eidolon, how come I haven't gotten my powers back yet?"<br>Light pushed the big oaf off her, "It's cause you haven't been angry or in a major distressed state yet. Relax, eventually you'll get it."  
>"Hey, are you saying I can't control myself?"<br>"That's exactly what she's saying, you dolt." Noel smirked at the large man. Everyone started to laugh while Snow tried to pick up the pieces of his dignity that Noel and Light just crushed.

* * *

><p>Finally, it was decided that they had explored the tribal area enough and decided to go forward. Lightning had discovered that this was the village of Terra. Yeul made a patch of grass with flowers grow in the middle of the ruins; a sign of remembrance. Vanille and Hope stayed behind everyone else, walking hand in hand. Vanille seemed a little down, Hope spoke to her,<br>"Is something wrong?"  
>"It's just sad to see all these ruins. Oerba, Paddra, Terra… these were once homes. Places where people lived, told stories and loved, it's sad, that's all."<br>Hope knew that Vanille felt especially strong about the old towns of Pulse. He remembered five years ago when they first visited Oerba and Vanille practically broke down. She once told him that Oerba was a place that was incredibly colorful, flowers were everywhere, and everyone lived together. But when they arrived, there were no flowers, no color and no life. He squeezed her hand tighter,  
>"It is sad. But we will always remember what happened. The war is not something that will be easily forgotten."<br>"One day, maybe when I'm older, I'd like to go back to Oerba and rebuild it. Then after Oerba, Paddra and Terra, and all the other abandoned villages and tribal areas. I want to restore them to their former glory. A place where we can learn from the past and hopefully not repeat it."  
>Hope looked at his girlfriend with immense pride. To have a dream like that is something most people don't have. He knows that she'll do it, not just for herself but for everyone who now lived on Pulse. He kissed the top of her head and she looked at him,<br>"What was that for?"  
>"That was because I love you."<br>"But I thought I was the one who gave the surprise kisses?"  
>"Can't I copy you?"<br>He stuck his tongue out at her and she laughed. Snow looked back at the lovebirds,  
>"What's going on over there? Hope tell a funny joke?"<br>"Oh the funniest, but we're not going to tell you Snow!" Vanille laughed as did Hope. Snow looked away, pouting. He was mumbling to Sazh, asking him if this was national 'Pick on Snow' day. That did not help to quell Vanille and Hope's laughter. Fang and Lightning looked back slightly and smiled. Yeul was smiling as well, she loved the atmosphere here. With Noel, it was fun, but it always seemed a little depressing. When a twenty year old is hanging out with a young kid and has no one to relate to, it can get kind of lonely. Yeul has noticed that Noel had a bit more spring in his step here, and he smiled a lot more. She never wanted to leave this family, she loved having everyone being happy.

* * *

><p>Past the village of Terra came a desert looking area. It eerily reminded the heroes of the Vile Peaks where five years ago Lightning, Hope, Vanille and Sazh crash landed. Lightning looked around and picked up a Sanctum weapon. She gasped,<br>"What the hell…  
>Vanille looked around and found other items that she recognized from Cocoon.<br>"What is this place?"  
>Hope looked at the rocks and rubble, "When Fang and Vanille formed the pillar, they did cause lava to flow over Cocoon. Their crystal pillar did intersect with a lot of places up there. These things all fell from there as a result probably. This is what the New Sanctum is calling 'The Cocoon Graveyard'."<br>Vanille awed in wonder. She remembered wandering the Vile Peaks with her friends. At that time, they still had no idea of her true identity and how walking there was actually hurting her on the inside. She sighed,  
>"I wonder how many people were hurt or even killed when Fang and I did what we did."<br>She bent her head down; a sign of remorse. Lightning put her hand on her shoulder,  
>"If Barthdandelus carried out his plan, every single person on Cocoon would have died. You saved more lives then you took, remember that."<br>Vanille frowned, but nodded her head. It was true, how many people were hurt the day Cocoon almost fell? How many people lost friends or loved ones? She tried not to think about it, but guilt kept sneaking back into her mind.

* * *

><p>In Snow's pocket, the communicator device began to rang. He picked it up and answered,<br>"Hello?"  
>"Hi Daddy! Yun was pulling my hair!"<br>"Give me that Dia! Hello, Snow? It's Serah."  
>Snow laughed, of course his daughter would do that. But he was happy, hearing Serah's voice made it feel like she was right there.<br>"Hello my love! Are you holding the fort down there?"  
>Everyone came closer to snow to hear Serah. Her voice sounded tired, worried even,<br>"Something weird has been happening around here. More monsters have been appearing closer to town. And while I was fighting…"  
>Lightning pushed in closer, "What happened Serah?"<br>"I think that crystal thing happened to me as well. All of a sudden, I was shooting air from my hand. And it's not just me, it's been happening to others as well as more monsters come by."  
>Everyone looked at one another, Noel spoke,<br>"Uh, hi there Snow's wife, listen try to keep things calm there. Are the monsters large or anything?"  
>"N-no not really. Who is this?"<br>Sazh laughed, "Oh yeah, you don't know Noel. Serah Farron, we picked up two stragglers. Meet, well listen, to Noel Kreiss and Paddra Psu Yeul. Yeul is a seeress, she can see the future."  
>Noel and Yeul exchanged pleasantries with Serah over the communicator. Serah continued,<br>"No, the monsters aren't that large. We can usually take them out quickly. But there are just so many that it's a strain. I was just wondering if you guys knew anything about it."  
>"The only thing we know," Lightning said, "is that the monsters we've been fighting are larger and nastier then usual. Honestly, I didn't really think too much of it, no one of us have. We'll keep our eyes open though."<br>"Serah, you keep the kids safe alright? If things get too rough, I'll come back if you want." Snow was trying to comfort his wife. She spoke softly,  
>"I can handle myself you know. Plus the members of NORA have the crystal powers as well. We're fine here without you, so go on. If you find anything out, please let me know."<br>"You've got it honey. I love and miss you!"  
>To be even more obnoxious, Snow made a large, wet kissing sound. While everyone is disgusted around him, Serah laughed,<br>"Alright, I love and miss you all too. Be safe!"  
>And with that, the communicator clicked off. Snow put it back in his pocket,<br>"I guess we should keep our guards up too."  
>Hope looked around and rested his chin in his hand, thinking,<br>"It doesn't make sense though. Why would there be a sudden increase in monster appearances near New Bodhum?"  
>Vanille looked at them all,<br>"Well, we won't find the answers here now, will we? Let's get going!"  
>She tugged at Hope's hand and started walking forward. The adults looked at each other and started to go as well. She had a point; they had no answers right now. Yeul opened her mouth, then closed it quickly. She couldn't do it; she couldn't tell them her secrets, no matter how much she wanted to.<p>

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><p><strong>not a long chapter, BUT i did do some awesome foreshadowing about stuff _ oh yes, lol.<strong>

**so i hope you guys are enjoying it. i'm thinking that this may be a like, hmmmmmm 20-25 chapter story? like i've said, i want it to be long but i don't want it to be filler long. and this chapter was almost like filler but i wanted to give hints of future stuff, ya know like yeul xD next chapter will blow up though lemme tell you... (hint hint)  
><strong>

**well as always, please review. i love me some reviews xD okay, i love and appreciate you all! see you next chapter!  
><strong>


	16. Chapter 16

The Cocoon Graveyard was far behind our heroes now as they continued on their pilgrimage to the Lost Temple of Anima. All that was in front of them were endless plains. Fang sighed,  
>"Geez, it's almost like we're back at the Steppe. Nothing in front of us but grass."<br>Snow fell to the ground, "Man, I'm beat. Can't we set up camp? I think we've done a good amount of walking and searching today."  
>Hope looked at Lightning and laughed. He remembered how five years ago travelling with her, he would ask to rest and she would get so agitated. Then again at that time, they were being chased by PSICOM officers. Lightning looked at him with a puzzled face,<br>"Sure, let's rest here. It's going to get dark soon anyway."  
>Noel went off with Snow to get firewood and spoke to him,<br>"So, you guys are on this journey simply because of a hunch?"  
>"Well you can call it that I guess. But really, we just want to support Vanille and Hope. We told you about her nightmares while we were walking. There has to be a reason she's having them. So, we're gonna try to find it."<br>Noel looked down and bit his lip. As much as he didn't like Snow, this guy had a right to know what Yeul knows. After gathering the wood, they went back to see everyone talking. Sazh coughed,  
>"So, you don't know when you'll get these visions Yeul?"<br>"I have them whenever the future changes. But who knows when the future will change? Even I don't know that information."  
>By now, everyone had accepted Yeul's power and didn't ask much more about it. For some reason, a rage was growing inside of Noel. Why? Why couldn't she just tell them the truths that she's been hiding? Why couldn't she let them know what Vanille's dreams really were about? He spoke quietly,<br>"Yeul, why won't you tell them about the past?"  
>Everyone snapped their head to look at Noel. Yeul's face went pale; he was going to break his promise. Noel spoke again with more volume in his voice,<br>"Well Yeul? Why won't you tell them?"  
>Her breathing stopped, "Noel…"<br>"No Yeul! You let them know! You let them know everything right now!"  
>"I can't do it!"<br>"You can, and you better!"  
>"Noel, please stop!"<br>Fang stood up and walked over to Noel. With a swift movement of her wrist, she slapped the young man across his face. Everyone was in shock; just what the hell was going on here? Noel looked at her,  
>"What the hell was that for Fang?"<br>"For you to control yourself and stop screaming at this poor girl. Look at her,"  
>Yeul was shaking, tears rolling down her face. Vanille scooted over to wrap an arm around the girl. Noel instantly felt sick to his stomach. His job was to protect Yeul, not sell her out. Lightning stood up and looked at both Yeul and Noel,<br>"You both know things that you aren't telling us. You're both at fault. One of you better start explaining or I will not be nice."  
>Obviously Yeul was still shaken up about Noel screaming at her. He took a deep breath,<br>"In the days when Paddra was still a real city, Yeul was an adult seeress. The tribe that lived there were known as the Farseerers. They truly respected Yeul and her abilities. In those days, Yeul lived to be an old woman."  
>"How come she can't now?" Sazh asked.<br>"It's because the original Paddra Psu Yeul changed the course of history. The people of Paddra were supposed to be killed by a huge monster, larger then a behemoth. Instead, the original Yeul went at the right time and sealed the beast in a time vortex. At that very moment, Yeul died. The goddess Etro was not amused by what Yeul had done. So, she put restrictions on the gift she had bestowed Yeul. Yeul would be reborn, but she would never live past 15, and she would continue to be reborn every time the previous Yeul dies. Like I told you, when she sees the future change, she loses a bit of her life. She must never intervene with events that are supposed to happen or else she will die and change history. That is because of the original Yeul."  
>Everyone looked stunned. Lightning spoke softly,<br>"So that's why years ago, she couldn't have told us about our journey. If she did, she would have died."  
>"No, she could have told you, she just couldn't have directly told you or did anything about it herself."<br>Hope looked at him, "What do you mean directly, Noel?"  
>Noel looked at Yeul, "Ready to talk?"<br>Yeul stood on two shaky legs. She whispered,  
>"The original Yeul created an object called the Oracle Drive. Inside of it, she recorded the future of the world. You can use it to look at your own future and see what will happen."<br>Vanille looked at her, "So inside of that we could see what happens to us, without you telling us! That's great! But how come you didn't tell us before?"  
>Yeul frowned, "The power of knowing your future is wicked. If you know the future, you either try to change it for your own gain, or mess up accidently. It can turn good men evil and even turn evil men insane. None of my previous lives have ever told anyone where the Oracle Drive is hidden."<br>Fang walked over to Yeul,  
>"Listen… we need that, now. We need to know if this journey will even be worth it."<br>"But it's not! It's because of my-!"  
>She shut her mouth and started to cry a little bit,<br>"I-I cannot tell you anymore."  
>Vanille grabbed Hope's hand. Yeul's words rung in her head; 'but it's not'." Snow got down on one knee to look at the young seeress,<br>"Yeul, I know you can't tell us. But please, you can tell us where the Oracle drive is. You have to let us know, please. I'm begging you, Yeul. We have to protect our family."  
>Yeul looked at Noel and sighed,<br>"I have faith in these people. I will show them the way."  
>Noel smiled slightly at her and mouthed the words I'm sorry to her. She nodded,<br>"You all must make me this vow however,"  
>They all stared at her,<br>"You must never tell anyone else outside of this family what the Oracle Drive is, or where it is located. If it got out, a massive wave of searches would come and destroy these areas to try and get to it."  
>They all agreed. Yeul pointed to the northeast,<br>"Close to our destination, you will find another set of ruins. This place is called 'The Farseerers Monument'. When we get there, I will open the Drive for you all to see."

* * *

><p>The commotion had died down and everyone went to separate areas to cool off. Fang, Sazh and Snow stayed together to talk strategy and Hope and Vanille stayed together. Lightning went off to find Noel, who wandered off earlier. Vanille sighed and got up, offering a hand to her boyfriend,<br>"Want to talk to Yeul with me?"  
>Hope took her hand willingly and they started to walk to the young girl, who was off on the other side of the camp area. She was standing up and looking to the sky, almost as if she was looking for an answer to something. Vanille spoke,<br>"Yeul, can I talk to you?"  
>The seeress looked over at the Gran Pulsian girl with red eyes. IT was apparent to them she had been crying. Vanille spoke again,<br>"Yeul, I understand why you never told us any of this."  
>"You do?"<br>Vanille let go of Hope's hand and walked closer to her,  
>"Yes I do. I know why, it was to protect us, wasn't it? Believe me, I did the same thing five years go. I bet you saw me do it, didn't you?"<br>Yeul smiled a little bit but not a lot. She answered,  
>"Well, yes. For once in our lives, Noel and I had been accepted into a family. People cared about us and protected us. I've never seen Noel so happy…"<br>She looked off into the distance, as if she could see him right in front of her,  
>"He and I have changed so much since joining you all. We laugh more and talk more. Before this, our trips were mostly silent. I didn't want to lose the thing that made us feel better. The thing that made us feel…"<br>"Loved?" Vanille finished her sentence. Yeul looked up at her with teary eyes. Vanille quickly stepped over to the girl and hugged her tightly. This startled Yeul, but she clung onto Vanille almost for dear life. Vanille rested her cheek on top of Yeul's head,  
>"I know exactly what you mean. But don't you worry now Yeul. You have a new family and people who love you and want to protect you."<br>Vanille felt a sense of déjà vu hitting her right in the face. Five years ago, she was the one who was crying to Fang about ruining everything. Now, it was she who was telling Yeul that they had a new family to be with. She pat down some of Yeul's hair,  
>"Everything will be just fine, I promise you! We'll do this together, you'll never be left behind."<br>Yeul smiled brightly, feeling a thousand times better. Hope stood off in the distance, looking at the love of his life with pride. She was truly an amazing woman.

* * *

><p>Lightning scoured the area to find Noel in the middle of the plains, far from camp. She yelled,<br>"You coming back or what?" Her heart beat faster when he turned to look at her,  
>"Why did you come to find me?"<br>"Why else would I? To make sure you're alright of course."  
>Noel looked into her eyes and his stomach started to flip out again. He remembered what Yeul told him earlier about her vision from yesterday. He then turned away to hide his blush,<br>"I'm alright. You can go back if you'd like."  
>"Not until you come with me. What is wrong?"<br>Noel bent his head,  
>"I'm a horrible Guardian. I promised, no swore, to her I wouldn't say anything. And there I went, spilling all the information she didn't want anyone to know. I raised my voice at her. I screamed at her…"<br>He looked at his hands as if they were soaked in blood,  
>"I am a horrible person. I made her cry…"<br>Lightning walked over and put her hand on his shoulder again. This time, it was easier to forget about the electricity she felt when she did that,  
>"You just wanted her to tell us the truth. It's not like you abused her. I'm sure if you truly apologize, she'll understand."<br>Noel turned around again to look at her eyes once more. They were large and the color of a storm by the sea. All he could think about is Yeul's vision, and why she told him. His eyes looked confused. Lightning noticed,  
>"What else is wrong?"<br>"Yeul told me about her vision yesterday. But why?"  
>"What was the vision?"<br>Noel smirked, "It's bad enough I know. Don't want the rest of the world knowing now, do we?"  
>Lightning scowled which made Noel chuckle. She turned on her heels back to the campsite as she spoke,<br>"Come back when you're ready to talk to her. I'm sure she'll be ready to listen."  
>Noel followed behind her back to everyone else. Sure enough, Yeul was there next to Vanille, telling her stories of her travels. Noel's eyes widened when he saw her and a lump formed in his throat. How was he supposed to talk to her after everything? He swallowed his pride,<br>"Yeul, can I speak with you?"  
>Yeul rose up from her seat and looked at everyone. They all encouraged her to go forward, so she did. She knew he was going to apologize, but she didn't know if she was going to start crying again. Even though she could see the future, she could not the outcome of this conversation.<p>

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><p><strong>woah, angry noel x.x lol, i hope you liked this chapter! i told you there was gonna be some trouble, didn't i?<br>**

**i don't really have much more to say, i'm about to put up the next chapter. way short, but leaves you with a cliffie :D i just love cliffhangers, don't you? makes you that much happier when i upload the next chapter :D lol**

**i love and appreciate you all!**


	17. Chapter 17

Noel took her back to the area where he was once contemplating his own thoughts. He whispered,  
>"I never should have broken my promise to you. I lied to you. I yelled at you. For all of that, I apologize."<br>Yeul smiled, "I know. You've apologize twice for it now. It's okay. If it wasn't for you yelling at me, I may never have told them all the truth."  
>"Yeul, can I ask a question? Why did you tell me about your vision yesterday? About me and Light?"<br>She laughed, "Noel, your relationship with her doesn't affect the future of the world. It was okay for me to tell you that. Besides, I was excited to see your reaction. You blushed."  
>Noel blushed once more and ran his hand though his hair while Yeul laughed again then spoke,<br>"Some things I can tell and some things I cannot. There is a fine line. The future of this journey is something I cannot tell, but relationship hints, I can."  
>Noel looked her in the eyes,<br>"Thank you, Yeul. I'm still sorry."  
>"I know Noel, and thank you."<br>Then, like a little sister with her big brother, Yeul hugged Noel. That's what it was to them; almost like a sibling relationship. She pulled away and smiled once more,  
>"Come on, it's getting late. We have a long trip tomorrow."<br>Noel nodded and they began to walk back. When they arrived, Snow got up,  
>"So? Are we all good? One big happy family again?"<br>Yeul shook her head, "You'd be correct."  
>Snow threw his fist into the air, as usual while the others smiled. Lightning flashed a special smile to Noel, making his heart skip three beats. Vanille bounced up,<br>"Rest up everyone! Tomorrow is gonna be long!"

* * *

><p>As the crew awoke in the early hours of the morning, Yeul spoke up,<br>"The monument is not far from here. Once we get there, I'll open up the Oracle Drive and you can see for yourselves what will happen."  
>Sazh cracked his neck, "Well what are we waiting for? The future waits for no one, am I right?"<br>The others agreed and they started to travel again. Fang, Yeul and Snow walked in front, Vanille, Hope and Lightning in the middle with Sazh and Noel trailing behind. Sazh found he had a lot in common with Noel. They liked to use two weapons at once, loved flying and agreed that behemoth was only good to eat if it was so raw, you could still hear it growling. Sazh started to notice where Noel's eyes rested. And they rested right on the behind of Lightning, or as Sazh called her, Miss Soilder. Sazh rested a hand on young Noel's shoulder and gave a dry laugh,  
>"My friend, that is not where you wanna be looking. I've seen her; she can kill you in one half of a second. Best to just look away."<br>Noel was startled and looked elsewhere, "I wasn't, I mean-"  
>"Hey hey, I get it. She does have a nice body and all, but she can be ruthless if you piss her off. Just, don't get caught is all I'm saying."<br>Noel smiled, he liked Sazh. It was almost like he was the father to the group. Wise, resourceful and not afraid to tell you when you're messing up.

* * *

><p>After hours of walking and complaining, mostly from Vanille and Sazh, the group had crossed the empty plains and arrived. Yeul looked around and explained the area to them,<br>"The original Yeul created the Oracle Drive with her own two hands. She watched the history of the world and had it recorded for future generations. The good thing about it is that it changes as time does. So if someone changed something, the Oracle Drive would know and rewrite it to fit the current history."  
>The gang walked up a tiny hill to see a large monument. It was a stature of the original Yeul when she was around her 30's. Below the statue, a tiny pillar held and orb-like object. It was green and had point edges. Yeul turned around to look at her companions,<br>"This is it, now you will see what I know."  
>She turned her back around and touched the orb gently. A great flash of light went up into the sky. It reminded Vanille when she saw the Eidolons on parade with Sazh in Nautilus five years ago. But what the group saw, shocked them.<p>

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><p><strong>short? yes. leaves you wanting more? oh my, yes! lol, the next chapter will be simply describing what is seen in the OD and the reactions from the characters, so stay tuned for that!<strong>

**reviews are always welcome. i love and appreciate all of you! :D :D until next time, my friends!**


	18. Chapter 18

The Oracle Drive opened to the fateful day in Paddra centuries ago. Yeul had seen the beast attacking in her mind and set out to destroy it. She wore long robes and had her silver hair tied in a braid. The real Yeul gasped, is that how beautiful she could have been if she grew up? The original Yeul went to the center of the city and waited silently. The people hid in their homes and watched from the windows. When the beast appeared, Yeul whispered it's name,  
>"Gorgamog."<br>Vanille screamed as she watched, the others looked at her as she explained,  
>"That's… that's the beast from my dreams! Gorgamog!"<br>Their eyes quickly went back to watching the original Yeul using all of her might and magic to create a worm-hole like entity and threw the beast inside of it. The townspeople rejoiced and cried out Yeul's name in praise. However, she did not get to hear much of it. The original Yeul fell to the ground as soon as the beast had disappeared. A few citizens ran out to aide her, but to no avail. A thunderous boom crackled through the city and spoke,  
>"You shall not change fate yourself, Paddra Psu Yeul. From now on, I command you be reborn and live till a mere age of 15. Each vision you see shall drain your life and when you perish, the cycle shall begin again."<br>Then the Oracle Drive started to act weird. It showed the present time in New Bodhum and the Lost Temple of Anima. In the picture, you could see small rifts. Hope asked,  
>"Wait, are those time rifts or something?"<br>The rifts got larger. In the New Bodhum picture, you could see the waves of monsters that were attacking the town. And in the other, a large paw was stepping out. Fang gasped,  
>"That can't be possible."<br>The beast, Gorgamog, was stepping out of the rift and attacking monsters by the temple. Hope was shocked,  
>"So, Gorgamog has returned and with him, an army of monsters?"<br>Noel pondered,  
>"It must be the goddess Etro. She's probably sending him back with friends to come after us. She must know that Yeul and I are with you all and wants revenge. So, she's warping time and space itself to do it."<br>"Wait, look!"  
>The Oracle Drive shifted again, but this time only to the Lost Temple of Anima. The heroes were there and so was Gorgamog. Sazh, Snow, Fang, and Lightning laid on the ground, dead. Noel and Yeul were nowhere to be seen. Hope looked incredibly weak and the blood was everywhere that you could look. Vanille was fighting her hardest to save him, but she was wounded as well. With one swipe, Vanille and hope both fell to the ground. Vanille tried to resist, but she couldn't. She had lost so much blood. Her hand searched for Hope, but he didn't reach out to her. She tried to scream his name, but he didn't answer. The love of her life had died trying to protect her. With no will left to live, Vanille closed her eyes one last time. The eight heroes had lost the battle, and their lives along with it.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanille kept screaming. Hope tried to hold her and console her, while Sazh needed to be excused while he vomited. Snow tried to look away and blink several times, as if he could unsee what he just saw. Lightning and Fang grimaced while Noel left and Yeul cried softly,<br>"Now you see why I could not tell you."  
>No one could speak. How could they? What would you say if you just saw how you were going to die and watch your friends die as well? Lighting spoke up however,<br>"Listen. This is a good thing."  
>Sazh came back, pale as he could be,<br>"And just how the hell is watching yourself be mutilated be a damn good thing?"  
>Lightning sighed, "We now know what not to do. We know what times the beast will be sleeping. We can have a preemptive strike and take him down. We know our mistakes from what would have been the first time. We can plan around that, make a better strategy and take him out once and for all."<br>Vanille had stopped screaming but looked around. She could see everyone was still shaken up about it. She walked away from the area; Hope followed. She fell to her knees and sobbed,  
>"The blood, oh the blood…"<br>Hope got down on his knees and hugged his girlfriend,  
>"Lightning had a point, Vanille. We can prevent the mistakes that we would have made. I know that was scary to watch but believe me, I will not let that happen to you, or any of us."<br>Vanille looked up at him,  
>"But how can you promise that, Hope? How can you say all of that?"<br>Hope clutched her closer, "What does Snow always say? The heroes never die, right?"  
>Vanille smiled slightly and calmed her crying down a bit. She looked into his eyes and whispered,<br>"I love you, Hope."  
>"And I love you, Vanille. Please, have faith in me. Believe in me when I tell you that this will not be our future. Come on, we better get back over there, we need to talk."<br>Hope got up and lifted her to stand on her feet. They walked back to everyone to see that shock that was still visible on their faces. Snow looked around,  
>"Guys, Light is right. This doesn't have to be our future. That's the great thing about it; it's an open book! We're humans, we can change our minds and do whatever we want!" Everyone started to nod their heads in agreement, liking the way that sounded.<br>Noel looked at Yeul, who had a sad look on her face. He didn't say anything to her, he knew what was going through her mind. If they changed the future, Yeul would die after seeing her vision. But, he knew she didn't want them to know. He just grimaced and looked away.  
>Hope spoke up,<br>"Alright, well then we look around this area for another clue to lead us to the temple. Once we find the clue, we plan out what we'll do."  
>Yeul walked away but this time, Noel didn't follow her. What would he say? What could he say? 'Hey, let you're gonna let your friends live but you'll die before hand! That's great!' There was nothing he could do. He had to let her go and accept her fate. The fate dozens of Yeul's before her had to accept.<p>

* * *

><p>Not far from the monument, Vanille located what seemed to be the final clue for them. Yeul had come back to decipher it for them,<p>

"_Goddess Etro, listen to us,  
>monsters are getting into a fuss.<br>The final path is west,  
>A place where all who visit are laid to rest.<br>The people continue to run;  
>the seerees must die for what she has done!"<em>

Yeul choked up the last sentence and walked away. Fang questioned,  
>"Why did they write that?"<br>Hope explained,  
>"This muse have been after the Paddra incident. I guess this isn't the first time Gorgamog has come back with friends. That explains the monsters getting into a fuss part."<br>Light was shining her gunblade, "Well, we go west then. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get there, so tonight we plan."  
>Noel looked at Yeul and this time followed her. He put an arm on her shoulder,<br>"Yeul…"  
>"Please, don't remind them Noel. It's good they forgot. Don't let them know that tonight…"<br>She walked away and looked back at him, salt tears in her eyes,  
>"Tonight after they finish planning, I will die."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>dun dun duuuuun. i bet people forgot about that! yes, in the game when the future changes, yeul loses a part of her life. so tragic, i really like her too..<strong>

**okay, within the next few chapters i'm gonna be sealing a few air bubbles i've noticed have popped up. by air bubbles i mean things contradicting one another. i know, bad myrna .**

**i hope you guys like this chapter!**

**i love and appreciate you all! see ya next time! :D**


	19. Chapter 19

The group came to a few conclusions about the future they had seen. For one, they were all not physically fit to handle such a battle. Second, not all of them had their crystal powers awaked inside of them.  
>"So we go around and toughen up a bit and try to wake up these crystals? Seems smart." Snow bumped his fists and looked happy.<br>Fang spoke, "Now hold on, there's one more thing I've got to question about. Just where did Yeul and Noel go?"  
>Everyone looked at the duo and wondered the same thing. Yeul smiled,<br>"Maybe something had come up. But I can assure you; we won't let anything get in our way. We will be there for you all."  
>Noel felt his palms tighten and feel acid run down his throat. He wanted to speak up, but after what happened last time he knew better. Sitting in silence wouldn't help, but he wouldn't do that to her. Not again. Lightning rose to her feet,<br>"Well, there's no time to waste. We still have daylight on our side. Let's all split up. People without crystal powers, pair up with someone who does. Yeul and Noel, you don't have to come with us, but if you want to toughen up, you can."  
>Everyone nodded. Vanille obviously clinged to Hope, Fang stuck with Sazh and Lightning ended up with Snow. The four groups went in separate directions, in hopes that the crystals within them would awaken.<p>

* * *

><p>Sazh stumbled behind Fang as she searched the area fir monsters to lay a smack down on. Sazh grumbled to himself. Fang looked behind her,<br>"What's your problem old man?"  
>"I just don't like this. Don't like it at all."<br>"Relax Pops, it'll all be fine."  
>"How can you be so sure of that huh? You think you're a seeress now?"<br>Fang sighed, was Sazh always this stubborn?  
>"No, I'm not a seeress. But I have faith in myself and my family. Faith that I can make the future into whatever I damn well please. But right now… our future is hazy. Look!"<br>A monster resembling a flying plant flew out at them. Fang started to beat it with her lance. Sazh was shooting it as Fang was swept off her feet by the beast. The monster hit her with its poisonous tail and sent her right into some rocks. Sazh ran over to her and checked to see. She had been wounded and the cut was bubbling.  
>"Poison. Ah damn,"<br>Sazh looked away to the monster and scowled. He pulled out his two guns and started rapidly firing. Something inside of him broke, he felt the rage turn into power. With a few more shots, the plant went down. He laughed then ran over to aid Fang. With his hands, he gently touched her cut and began to focus. By magic, her cut was disappearing and the poison was leaving her system. She looked up at him and smiled,  
>"Hey Pops, I told you it would be fine. You got yourself some crystal magic in ya now."<br>Sazh looked at his hands and laughed with pride,  
>"Aw yeah, the old man's still got it!"<p>

* * *

><p>Lightning and Snow walked around to find their prey. Snow tried to talk to her, but she didn't pay attention. When Lightning was on a mission, you couldn't distract her. However, in her mind she was distracted. All she could think about was the Oracle Drive and what it had shown them. Was that how she was going to go down? Be killed by a time-traveling beast that was supposed to kill the people of Paddra? She shook her head; she didn't want to think about it. Snow stood next to her, whistling a jaunty tune to himself. She sighed, how could he always be so damn happy and positive? He quickly shot his head up and put and arm out to stop Light from walking. He listened very carefully. Then with great speed, he ran and punched a large stone. Lightning stood and watched him, then smacked herself on the forehead. He smirked,<br>"Don't be so sure there Sis. Look,"  
>Lightning looked at the stone as it started to move. She gasped and reached out for her gunblade. The stone began to stand up and hovered over the two heroes. It was something Light had never seen before. She called out,<br>"Noel, Yeul! Are you there? We may need help!"  
>Noel picked up his head and looked at Yeul. They weren't too far away from them to hear the cry for help. Yeul nodded and they began to run. She gasped at what she saw. Noel cried,<br>"Yeul, stay back!"  
>She began to cast magic at the rock monster. Lightning tried to hit it with her gunblade, but it bounced right off. She looked at Noel,<br>"Our swords won't work. We have to use magic!"  
>Snow bumped his fists, "You mean this is a job for me!"<br>With pride surging through him, Snow began to run towards the monster. Lightning looked at him, shocked. What kind of idiot charges into a battle, head first? Why yes, her brother-in-law did. Noel tapped her,  
>"Wait, look."<br>Snow was beating down the rock monster. The pride within him had awoken his crystal from what they could tell. He was throwing ice punches like in the old days without even realizing it. Snow took a step back and cranked his arm back and with one final ice blow, the rock crumbled into a thousand pieces. Snow did a backflip,  
>"Aw baby, did you see that! Better then fireworks man!"<br>Lightning walked closer,  
>"Hey dummy, you got your crystal powers. Looks like that stubborn pride of yours finally paid off."<br>Noel laughed while Snow jeered. Yeul smiled from afar, happy to see Noel blending in so well with what would be his new family.

* * *

><p>They searched and searched, but Vanille and Hope had gotten nowhere. She sighed,<br>"It's getting dark, Hope. Maybe we should go back?"  
>Hope smiled softly at her and agreed. They still had tomorrow to try. They walked back slowly, hand in hand. Hope looked down at her,<br>"Is something wrong?"  
>"What if our new plan doesn't work? If that future we saw is the future we're stuck with? That you die and I…"<br>Hope stopped and looked at his girlfriend in the eyes,  
>"That won't be our future Vanille. I can promise you that."<br>"You can't promise that Hope! The future is uncertain!"  
>Hope smiled and whispered,<br>"The future may be uncertain. But I know one thing for sure about the future. You and I will be together in it. Till death do us part."  
>Vanille cringed at the last words. Death was a big possibility for the both of them in the near future. She walked ahead,<br>"Hope, I'm starting to think it was all doomed the moment Fang and I got out of that pillar. Maybe, we can find a way to go back and you can all go back to New Bodhum and-"  
>He ran to her and put both hands on her shoulders,<br>"Oerba Dia Vanille, are you saying it would be better if we weren't together? That if my words never got through to you?"  
>"No! Hope I'm so grateful that we're now together. For five years I've dreamed about it and prayed that it would happen. All I'm saying is that if it didn't happen, no one would die. You would all go on and live your lives."<br>Hope moved his face closer to her,  
>"Vanille, my life would never have never gone on without you. Never will I ever regret getting you out of that pillar. No matter what tomorrow brings, I will be so incredibly happy because I have you. You and I will always be together, here and now right?"<br>Tear started to form in Vanille's eyes. Oh, how she wanted to believe him! But how could she? The future is never a guarantee; tomorrow is not promised for anyone. However, she gasped at what she saw.  
>Hope slowly got down on one knee and held her right hand. The words that came from his mouth were music to her ears,<br>"Oerba Dia Vanille, I love you. I loved you five years ago, I love you now and I will love you in the future. This is my promise to you, Vanille. My promise that we will make it out of this. We will overcome anything, because we're together. It's you and me forever, right baby?"  
>He winked, something he stole from Snow. Vanille giggled as her tears began to dry up.<br>"I love you, and I will spend the rest of my life with you. All you have to do is answer this question for me."  
>Her eyes widened.<br>"Vanille, will you marry me?"  
>She had no words. She simply nodded her head. Hope quickly got up on his feet and lifted her into his arms. Cloud Nine looked crappy in comparison to how he was feeling right now. She laughed and smiled. Her faith in tomorrow had been restored. Yes, this proposal had now given her the conviction she needed. She could go into battle, and she would survive. She had to; she had a wedding to plan for!<br>Hope put her on her feet,  
>"Sorry I don't have a ring right now. When we get back, I have my mother's engagement ring waiting for you. I would be so happy if you wore it."<br>"I would be honored, Mr. Estheim."  
>"And thank you, future ."<br>All the kisses these two had ever shared before couldn't hold a candle to this one. Love, passion and bliss mingled together to create the perfect kiss. One that could be remembered for a lifetime. Vanille broke away and smiled,  
>"Come on, let's get back! We have to tell our family!"<br>She tugged at his hand and dragged him behind her. He smiled; he would let her drag him anywhere, even to hell and back. Nothing else mattered at this moment. He was engaged to the best woman he had ever know. Gorgamog didn't stand a chance now.

* * *

><p><strong>OH YES I DID. SQUEEEE IN EXCITEMENT PEOPLE! :D<br>well okay, to be honest that was spur of the moment. it was supposed to be major fluff but it just seemed so perfect . idk, please don't hate me. i honestly love it. it just gives me more incentive for a SEQUEL. oooops, i've said far too much.**

**anywhoo, i hope you liked this chapter. in the next one the battle begins...  
>oooh, cliffie :D<strong>

**i love and appreciate you all! thank you so much! see you soon! :D  
><strong>


	20. Chapter 20

Vanille pumped her feet as fast as she could, with Hope still tailing behind her. She wanted her family to know, even if some of them wouldn't be exactly happy with it. It didn't matter to her, she thought this was just the boost they all needed. So she kept running, they were all waiting for her and her fiancé.  
>Fiancé.<br>She'd have to get used to saying that. Hope smiled and ran ahead of her. Now she was the one being dragged. Hope was just as excited, but he wanted to be the one to tell them all. He also wanted to be the one to take the hit when Fang throws her lance.  
>They arrived at the campsite to see everyone had returned. Fang spoke up,<br>"So, how'd it go for you guys?"  
>Hope shook his head, "Well, we couldn't find any monsters to fight but…"<br>Vanille piqued in, "Something else happened!"  
>Everyone looked at the lovebirds. Vanille had a feeling Hope wanted to tell them. She squeezed his hand, a sign of encouragement. Hope gulped,<br>"I… I just proposed to Vanille. And she said yes. We're getting married."  
>Snow cheered,<br>"Hey, way to go guys! Another wedding in the future! This is great!"  
>Sazh shrugged and put a hand on Hope's shoulder,<br>"You're too damn young in my mind. But I guess I can't control these things. But that's still good for you. Congrats guys."  
>Lightning simply smiled. She knew why he did it, now of all times. He wanted Vanille to have faith. He wanted everyone else to have faith too. He wanted them to have something worth fighting for. She looked over at Fang who was smiling as well, but also tearing up a bit. Light put a hand on her shoulder,<br>"It's gonna be all right. Have faith, like they want us to."  
>Fang nodded. She had a feeling this was the calm before the storm. Everything was going well and everyone is happy. The dark fear in her mind did not go away with this news, however. She had a hunch, and usually her hunches are never good.<p>

* * *

><p>Noel walked over to Light,<br>"Congrats. I know Hope means a lot to you."  
>"Yeah, almost like a son to me. Thank you. And, thanks for sticking around."<br>He looked at her, confused.  
>"I know we aren't the easiest group to get used to. It can be a pain dealing with us. But still, you and Yeul stick around. You're even willing to go into a battle with us that you may or may not survive. I admire that."<br>Silently, Noel just took her hand and held it in his. She gasped, and could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. He didn't say anything, it was his way of assuring her that things would work out. She squeezed his hand and made his heart jump.  
>"Come on, guys! Let's get some shut-eye! Big day tomorrow!"<br>Snow shouted so loud that both Light and Noel jumped, releasing the grasp they had on the other. Lightning cursed him under her breath and just walked away. She didn't want to ruin the moment that she had just shared with Noel.  
>Everyone laid down and closed their eyes, hoping sleep would come. But how could it? What would you do if you knew there was a 5050 chance that you could die tomorrow in filthy bloodshed? Would you sleep and hope for the best, or lie awake in fear? Snow laid down and called Serah, telling her how much he loved her and their children. He told her about everything he had seen and what he had learned about Pulse. He told her no matter what happens, she was his miracle. Sazh took the communicator afterwards to call Dajh and tell him the same thing. Hope laid there with Vanille safely in his arms. He would never let anything hurt her. Vanille promised herself she would not let the vision she saw in the Oracle Drive become her real future, she would protect Hope, no matter what. Noel laid there, looking up at the stars. His heart was still burning after holding Lightning's hand. He had a strange urge to just be there for her, no matter what would happen. The entire group finally was able to get some sleep, despite their restless thoughts.

* * *

><p>Fang woke up in the middle of the night to see Yeul off in the distance. She got up and walked over to her, wanting to check on her.<br>"What's up there, Sprout?"  
>Yeul looked over and smiled, "Oh, nothing. Just thinking is all."<br>Fang stood next to her, "Don't think I forgot you know,"  
>Yeul looked up at her shocked. Fang smirked,<br>"I remember what Noel told us. When you see the future change, you lose a part of your life. You're wondering when the future will change and when you'll die. But if it doesn't, then we die tomorrow, am I right?"  
>Yeul was in shock. She barely spoke to Fang, yet she was being so open with her. Yeul hung her head,<br>"What am I supposed to do? I don't want to remind them. Ignorance is bliss, or so they say."  
>"You put your best foot forward and smile. That's all you really can do, I guess."<br>Fang put her arm around the young seeress's shoulder,  
>"That's what Vanille did five years ago. She didn't want her friends to worry, so she just smiled and pretended nothing was wrong. Yet the entire time, you knew the girl was shaking in her fur boots."<br>Yeul laughed a little, which made Fang smile,  
>"Yeul, I don't claim to know a whole lot about the plight you have to go through. But I do know this, your friends will always be there for you. Me, Noel, Vanille and everyone else. We all love you, you're a part of this family. Now and always, right?"<br>And with that statement, Yeul began to sob. She cried and cried as if her eyes were faucets that could not be turned off. Fang held her close and whispered in her ear,  
>"Your future is yours, Yeul. The future will always change for the better."<br>Yeul suddenly stopped crying. She fell to the ground with her eyes open. She was seeing her final vision. Fang screamed,  
>"Guys, come help! It's Yeul! She's seeing something!"<br>Noel quickly got up, along with everyone else. He held her next to him,  
>"Yeul! Yeul, please! Answer me, don't you dare do this to me!"<br>Vanille hid her face in Hope's chest. She remembered that if this happened again, Yeul would pass. She began to quietly cry, while Hope held her close and turned his head. Sazh and Snow turned away while Fang and Light stood close to the guardian and the seeress. Noel kept shouting,  
>"Yeul! Please, Yeul! I'm begging you don't go now! You have to stay here, with me! With us, our new family, come on Yeul! Dammit!"<br>Yeul blinked and put her hand on Noel's cheek,  
>"Don't worry. We'll see each other again. Tomorrow, you must go with them. Leave me here and go with our family."<br>She looked at everyone else with tired eyes,  
>"You will do well. I am so proud of you all. I… I love you all."<br>With that statement, Paddra Psu Yeul took her final breath.


	21. Chapter 21

No one went back to bed that night. Snow took Yeul's body to a cave nearby so no monsters would attack her. Vanille kept crying as Hope tried to comfort her. Fang collected flowers to surround her body with, it only seemed right. Sazh kept poking at the fire, wondering how life could be so cruel to a little girl. Noel went off, he didn't want to talk to anyone, even Lightning. She stayed at camp near the fire as well, wondering what would happen now. Yeul had her vision, which meant that they changed the future. Today, they would go home.  
>Wouldn't they?<br>She couldn't sit still anymore. She got up and started to hit a nearby tree with her gunblade. Everything sucked at this moment, and she hated it.  
>By early morning, everyone was as ready as they could be. Noel had come back to the group but didn't speak. Lightning felt a tight feeling in her chest whenever she saw him. She wanted to comfort him, but how? It was just too difficult to even try. She just started to walk west and looked back,<br>"We have to get going now…"  
>And so, they started the trek towards the final battle.<p>

* * *

><p>Walking in silence, the group of heroes started to truly realize the fight they were about to get into. Maybe they all wouldn't survive, maybe they would all live. So many possibilities but no real definite future. Lightning lead the group with her head up, but her spirits down. What was she supposed to say to all of them? "Sorry guys a little girl just died seeing your future, but hey: you get to walk out of here today hopefully!" That was just not going to work for this. Snow growled and screamed,<br>"Oh dammit this is enough!"  
>Everyone looked at him, wondering what on earth he was going to say now.<br>"Look, we can't be like this. We have to be ready. We have to win this battle for Yeul! We have to make it out of here for her! If we don't she will have died for nothing!"  
>Sazh spoke up,<br>"Trench Coat is right. If we lose this battle, then the vision Yeul saw would have been a waste. We gotta do this for her!"  
>Everyone smiled. The two elder men actually made sense. Should they lose this battle, they will have changed history again and Yeul would have died for no reason. They cheered and started to run to their destination, in hopes of keeping Yeul's vision a reality. Everyone except Light and Noel. Light put her hand in Noel's,<br>"Come on, you too. We can do this together."  
>Noel's face turned pink and Light turned crimson red. She started to run with him. He dragged on behind her and started to think to himself. This is what Yeul wanted. A family that cared for one another and never left another behind. He would follow this family, and be a part of it, just like Yeul wanted.<p>

* * *

><p>Hope kept running and saw the temple in sight. He shouted,<br>"Get ready! We're almost there!"  
>Just like that, everyone kept running and pulled out their weapons. Sazh grabbed his guns and kissed them both for good luck. Fang grabbed her spear and twirled it around while Vanille took out her binding rod and grappled a tree branch close by. She swung over everyone in front of her and landed next to Hope, who grabbed his Airwing from behind him. Snow adjusted his gloved and bumped his fists one more time. Lightning let go of Noel's hand and grabbed her gunblade. Noel reached and got his dual blades and nodded at her. The heroes continued their charged, guns blazing, no turning back. Gorgamog would be waiting for them, and they would be ready to fight until the bitter end.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>hi guys! :D wow it's been a while, and i so totally apologize for that. a lot of stuff came up. but on the plus side, i found out i'm going to be an aunt! :D so exciteddd~<br>i hope you guys have liked these two chapters. i have two more coming up :D the finale! :D :D :D i'm right now writing the epilogue, so look for that!  
>i love you guys so much, thank you for reading! :D<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

The gang slid into the courtyard for The Lost Temple of Anima. Fang and Vanille wondered at the building. Fang sighed,  
>"Our ancestors spent hundreds of years looking for this place, and here we are. Kinda wish I could call my grandma back from the dead to tell her."<br>Light held up her gunblade, "Stay focused. Gorgamog could be anywhere."  
>However, it was incredibly quiet. Too quiet. The group was not comfortable with it. Vanille and Hope stood back to back. Hope whispered,<br>"If it gets too rough Vanille, you run, okay?"  
>"Never. Remember? I made that promise five years ago. I won't run away any more."<br>Snow looked around, paranoid as to when the monster would strike. A little ring made him jump. It was the communicator; Serah was calling.  
>"Serah, now isn't the best…"<br>"Snow! Are you alright? The monsters here are increasing in numbers! We don't know what's going on!"  
>Everyone looked at him, he panicked,<br>"Serah! Are the kids alright? Tell Yuj and Gadot about the weapons supply! Serah, protect the kids and get out of there!"  
>"Snow! I can't…. The transmission…. Love you!"<br>And with that, communication had been lost with Serah. Snow became enraged but Noel held him back.  
>"If we take out Gorgamog, we'll take out the monsters in New Bodhum! Calm down!"<br>Snow shook Noel off and screamed,  
>"Come out and fight us, you dirty beast! Come on, what are you, scared?"<br>And with that, the deadly beast Gorgamog had come out to attack.

* * *

><p>With each of his lumbering steps, Gorgamog shook the earth below them. He had silver fur and drooled a green ooze. He was truly a force to be reckoned with. Sazh screamed,<br>"Okay kids! Play time is over! Get him!"  
>With that, he started to shoot at the monster. Fang head rushed into him, using all of her strength to pierce his outer exterior. Snow jumped and started to bash into the monsters face. Lightning and Hope began to cast magic at the hulking beast while Noel kept hitting him. Vanille panicked and remembered something.<br>She did not awaken the crystal inside of her. What could she do now? She had no real power without it.  
>Until she noticed a falling tree.<br>That was something she could use to her advantage. She screamed,  
>"Everyone! Move, now!"<br>They did as she asked. Using her Binding rod's power, Vanille grappled the tree near the beast and started to pull. Hope stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, helping to pull. Snow and Noel helped the little woman as well. With one final tug, Vanille felt the tree fall. She released her hooks on it and the tree started to ascend down to the beast. With one massive hit, the tree hit Gorgamog, making it scream in pain. Fang gasped,  
>"Did that get him?"<br>Gorgamog picked himself up and shook the tree off him. He growled and a swirling ray of color surrounded him. Noel gasped,  
>"No.. it just pissed him off."<br>The gang started to go in again for another assault. But with a simple swipe of his paw, Gorgamog knocked Light, Fang, Snow, Sazh, Noel and Hope harshly to the ground; too weak to even stand up. Vanille stood still. This was the vision they saw in the Oracle Drive. Everyone fell to the ground and only she remainded. She screamed as loud as she could. Hope tried to reach out to her,  
>"Vanille… you have to run…"<br>"God dammit Hope, I'm not running! This is going to end, now!"  
>Vanille started to charge the beast. With binding Rod in hand, she started to spin it. Fang tried to stop her, but her voice was too weak. Vanille screamed as she jumped on Gorgamog's back. With that scream, a flash of white light surrounded her and a powerful spell of Ruin came from her rod. Ger crystal had awoken, and just in good timing. Vanille stuck her rod in his back and started to speak,<br>"This is not my future. This is not what I will let happen. This is not what Yeul saw and died for! I won't let you kill my family! This ends now!"  
>She grabbed her rod and cast a massive cure spell to all of her allies. Hope got up as quickly as he could and threw Airwing at the creature's head, making Vanille fall off. Snow caught her and smiled,<br>"You did it, you changed the future."  
>She smiled and jumped down and looked at everyone,<br>"Now, let's finish this off! Once and for all!"  
>With her crystal powers, Vanille started to debuff Gorgamog so he wasn't as powerful as he once was. Hope continued to cast magic while everyone else just wailed on him. Vanille jumped back,<br>"Everyone, now!"  
>The members of the group jumped back. Forming a circle around the monster ,one by one, the members of the group started to attack. Snow went first, launching Gorgamog into the air and started to combo-attack the creature. He fell back down and Fang jumped up to continue the assault. With her spear, she kept hitting him. When she fell back, Sazh started to fire both his pistols from the ground. He gave a big yahoo when he turned his two guns into one big shotgun. When he stopped firing, Vanille used the grappling hooks of her Binding Rod and spun the beast while he was still in the air. After spinning him around, Hope cast magic while his Airwing attacked Gorgamog. Light jumped up into the air and started to bash him just like her friends had. When she fell backwards, Noel jumped right up. With tears in his eyes, he shouted,<br>"This is for Yeul!"  
>He beat down the creature, but this time they let Gorgamog hit the floor. Everyone stayed in the circle around him and Lightning shouted,<br>"Work together! Everyone, Ruin now!"  
>Gathering all the power they had in each of them, they all used the Ruin spell at the same time. What was unique abut it this time, however, is that each of their Ruin spells were in a different color. When they all hit Gorgamog, he burst into nothing but tiny lights.<br>The heroes looked around the area in awe. How could a beast that was so terrifying and evil implode and turn into something so beautiful? There were no words to describe that moment for each of them. Vanille choked up,  
>"We did it Yeul. I hope you saw this in your vision…"<br>"I did, but it wasn't as beautiful."  
>Everyone looked behind them to see her standing there with an older woman.<br>Yeul.


	23. Chapter 23

She was alive! Yeul came back! Noel didn't even say anything, he just ran to her and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back. Everyone ran to her except Light, Fang and Sazh. Vanille and Hope held Yeul, so happy to see her again. Hope asked,  
>"But why? I don't understand.. you were dead!"<br>"This is true, but maybe she can explain it."  
>Lightning looked at the woman next to Yeul,<br>"And who are you?"  
>"I am the Original Paddra Psu Yeul. I am the reason you had to fight that ferocious beast. I apologize."<br>She bowed down in respect. In the tiny lights, the Original Yeul was as beautiful as the stories depicted her to be. The Original Yeul spoke,  
>"The Goddess saw your bravery. You corrected the timeline by destroying that horrible creature forever. In return for your valiant behavior, She brought this Yeul back to life. The cycle of seeress's has been broken."<br>Sazh cleared his throat, "So you mean, no more death? No more visions? She can live out her life?"  
>The Original Yeul nodded her head and smiled. Sazh started to tear up,<br>"What a relief… no more children dying… that the Goddess."  
>He ran over and hugged Yeul. Fang asked,<br>"Now does this mean we really defeated Gorgamog, right? What makes us different then the others who have tried in the past?"  
>The Original Yeul picked a flower and showed it to the group,<br>"Unity. That is the difference here. Today, you worked together to stop the creature. Like a flower, all the petals stuck together to work for the common good of blooming. At the end of it all, you combined powers to destroy Gorgamog."  
>Vanille asked,<br>"But what are the tiny lights for? Five years ago, we saw them in Oerba. I don't understand them…"  
>The Origina Yeul smiled,<br>"The sparkling lights represent people who died trying to stop this monster. They represent the family members they left behind, or the dreams and goals they never accomplished. By killing Gorgamog, you released these souls. Now they can rest, forever after."  
>Light stook her hand out as a light landed in it. She lifted her hand upwards into the sky, helping it to its final resting place. Yeul looked at her older counterpart,<br>"Where will you go, Paddra Psu Yeul?"  
>"I am not of this world. I will go to my final resting place, much like these tormented souls. It is time I rested as well."<br>Snow looked at her,  
>"Tell the Goddess we thank her for bringing Yeul back to us! We really appreciate it!"<br>Noel walked over to The Original Yeul,  
>"Thank you…"<br>The Original Yeul walked over and put a soft hand on Noel's cheek,  
>"If you were my guardian those many years ago Noel, I fear I would have fallen in love with you."<br>Noel and Light gasped. The Original Yeul chuckled,  
>"But it seems to me, someone here already has fallen for your charms."<br>Noel looked over at Lightning, who blushed. Vanille hugged Hope and smiled while she looked at the two. The Original Yeul took a few steps back,  
>"Thank you all for your hard work. I must rest now. I will watch over all of you, as will the Goddess. May you be blessed!"<br>The Original Yeul started to glow and then shrink. Right before there eyes, she had turned into a tiny light like all the others and soared high into the sky. Once she was gone, the other lights disappeared as well.

* * *

><p>Yeul looked back at her family,<br>"Well, now what do we do?"  
>Snow hugged her close with one arm, "What do you mean? We call Serah, check on things back home and get the hell out of here! I could use some good food!"<br>Sazh and everyone agreed. Yeul looked at them,  
>"A home, huh? Noel and I never had one of those before…"<br>Vanille knelt down to eye level with her,  
>"Well now you do. New Bodhum is your home now, for both of you! You're family, you're coming with us!"<br>Fang walked over and punched Noel lightly in the arm,  
>"Yeah, these guys are great! They take anybody in! Even us 'heathens' from Pulse. But they sure do make you feel welcomed."<br>The Cocoon immigrants in the group smiled. Hope took Vanille's hand and started walking,  
>"Well come on Snow, call Serah! We got a long trip back home!"<br>Snow fumbled around to get the communicator while everyone started to walk. Once he got it, he caught up with them and waited for Serah to answer. He silently prayed that killing Gorgamog stopped whatever craziness was going on back home. She answered,  
>"Snow! Whatever you guys did worked! Everything is back to normal here!"<br>"Really? That's great news! We're on our way home babe! Oh and, set up two beds. We adopted two new members of the family!"  
>Serah laughed, "You've got it. See you in a few days! Love you!"<br>Snow said goodbye and jumped for joy.  
>"No problems in New Bodhum guys! We are clear to return!"<br>Fang smiled, "Well good! I need a good night's sleep on a real bed!"  
>Noel looked at Sazh, "Hey, what's a bed like? Yeul and I never really had one."<br>"Kid, it's like sleeping on a cloud compared to the dirt."  
>Yeul looked up at Light, "What's life like in a town?"<br>She grinned, "It's a lot better then life out here in the middle of nowhere."  
>Vanille and Hope trailed behind the group, holding hands. She squeezed his hand,<br>"You were serious about the proposal right? You want to marry me?"  
>Hope winked at her, "You've got it babe."<br>Vanille laughed at his impersonation of Snow. Without warning, she started to run. Hope shouted,  
>"What are you doing that for?"<br>"Come on silly! The quicker we get home, the sooner I get to wedding plans!"  
>The rest of the group started to follow behind them, following the lovers to a new dawn.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Wishes Can Come True<br>But Not If You Just Wait For Miracles.  
>Miracles Are The Things We Make<br>For Ourselves.  
>Here, And Now.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>WAAAAH IT'S OVERRR~<br>i can't believe it! the main story part is over! the epilogue will be up soon and all but still, it's over! i honestly can't believe it!  
>i really want to thank all of my readers. if it wasn't for you, i would have never finished this and this story would have stayed in the depths of my hard drive for years xD<br>i love you guys SOOOOOOOO much! keep checking out my stuff, there WILL be a sequel, this i promise! :D  
>love you guys, i appreciate you alll!<strong>_  
><em>


	24. UPDATE - YAY!

_**UPDATE ON THE STORY!**_

Wow guys, hi there! I know it's been like eons since I've updated this baby. I know I left everyone hanging on the epilogue. I feel really crappy about that, believe me. :( But when life kinda gets in your way, it prevents you from actually sitting down and actually making something worth writing. I actually wrote like 4 versions of the epilogue but they all sucked pretty hardcore.

But now guess what boys and girls... I'M BACK! :D (**Insert Applause Here... no one? Okay then, haha.**)

I will have the epilogue posted at some point today. **(I wanted to do it tonight but it's like 2 am and I have the worst cold in the world. Don't you hate when they feel like death? Yeah, me too.**) And then I can assure you that the SEQUEL will begin!

But you see, this is where I need your help. You, my beloved readers of this story, need to help me. See, I don't really know where to take the sequel. I'm not sure if I want to make it an adventure like this story, or like an day-by-day story where the gang just lives their lives in New Bodhum. This is where you come in: do you have any ideas? Do you want this to be action packed, fluffy or funny? YOU HAVE THE POWERRRRRR! (**Oh He-Man references, anyone get it? No? Oh well...**)

Please either PM me or write a review with your ideas.

I love and appreciate every single one of you who have reviewed, liked or favorited this story. From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you.

(**Btw, Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns. ARE YOU ALL AS EXCITED AS I AM?! Omg, if I don't get to see Vanille and Fang again, Myrna is gonna be one unhappy duck.**)

OH ANOTHER BTW, just so you all know so I don't seem impersonal, I am a girl and I am 20 years old. I go by a fake name here just cause I think they're so awesome.. haha.

Anywho, I've rambled a lot. THE EPILOGUE IS UPON US DEAR ONES! :D


	25. Chapter 24 Epilogue

Once again, it was another beautiful day in New Bodum. The sun was bright, the waters were calm and… Vanille was on another Bridezilla spree.  
>"Why can't I have pink Orchids for my bouquet?! Is that just too complicated of a task?!"<br>Serah jumped in shock while Fang and Lightning sighed. Fang put a hand on her shoulder,

"Will you relax? It's just flowers. I've never seen you get like this."  
>Vanille whined,<br>"But Fang! I'll only have one wedding in my whole life! I want it to be memorable! And it will be so memorable if I have pink orchids!"  
>Yeul walked over and changed the color of the flowers by magic,<br>"Is that better Vanille?"  
>"Oh, it is! Thank you, my precious flower girl!"<br>She hugged the former seeress. It was almost a year now since they met the young girl and her guardian Noel. It's also been almost a year since Yeul died and came back to life and the heroes fought the fearsome Gorgamog. It's almost a year since Hope proposed to the young girl from Gran Pulse. She smiled and looked at Fang,  
>"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude or ungrateful."<br>"It's all right. You have a point, you only have one wedding. It might as well be memorable. Are you ready for today?"

Vanille stood up to reveal her wedding gown. Her arms were covered by a flower patterned lace, the bodice was a corset that gave Vanille curves that she didn't even know existed. The end of her dress was styled to resembled a mermaids tail that continued to flow on the ground. Her veil was just as long as the train of her dress. For once in her life, Vanille let her hair down in soft curls, very different from her typical pig tails. She left her bangles on her wrists, they were made by her grandmother in the days of the old Oerba. Fang, Lightning and Yeul gasped. Vanille had transformed into a young woman right before their eyes. Yeul hugged her,  
>"Vanille, you look wonderful! I'm so happy for you."<br>Yeul let her go as Lightning walked by to put a hand on her shoulder,  
>"You really look stunning, I'm so glad to be a part of this day."<br>Light stepped back to let Fang grab her,  
>"Vanille, I never thought this day would come. A day where the world was at peace and you could get married to a great guy. Thank goodness…"<br>Fang hugged her tighter. Vanille tried to hold back the tears; redoing her makeup would be a chore. However, she couldn't hold back the dam anymore and cried onto Fang's shoulder. She was right, ever since the War of Transgression all those centuries ago they have lived in constant turmoil. From becoming l'cie, to waking up on Cocoon, to fighting Barthandelus and becoming Cocoon's pillar and even to last year fighting Gorgamog, they have always been in the middle of a fight. For once, they were living in peaceful times and actually could get married or start families. Vanille peeled herself away from her and smiled,  
>"You're right. Our lives now belong to us."<br>Fang smirked,  
>"You mean your life now belongs to Hope."<br>"Hey, I haven't said I Do yet you know."  
>They both started to smile. Vanille looked in the mirror and wailed,<br>"Oh no! All this emotion ruined my face! Fang! I need your help."  
>Fang laughed silently and sat her down in the chair and grabbed a tissue to wipe off the runny mascara created due to the tears. Light shook her head and quietly left the room.<p>

* * *

><p>Across the house, Hope was in Serah and Snow's bedroom. He was dressed to the nines in his tuxedo. He wore a pink bow, much to his dismay. But when his future wife asks him to, he's really not allowed to say no. Snow, Noel and Sazh were in the room with him, dressed in tuxedos as well but no pink bows. Sazh chuckled,<br>"Man, you must really love her if you are willing to wear a pink bow for her. My wife tried to make me wear one but I had to take a stand. I mean, our entire wedding was pink enough already."  
>Hope sighed,<br>"Yeah, well everything is pink plus my bowtie. But I just couldn't say no to her. I would have felt bad."  
>Snow laughed,<br>"Yeah man, it's best not to deny your woman anything. If you do you get denied-"  
>"You get denied what, Snow?"<br>Serah and Light were standing in the doorway to the bedroom and Serah had a mean look on her face. Snow gulped and thought on his feet,  
>"You get denied the privilege to be in the presence of your wonderful wife who you love oh so much and have to go sleep on the couch. That's what we get denied babe, honest!"<br>Hope, Sazh and Noel laughed as Snow walked over to Serah. He opened his mouth to say something to cover up his stupid comment but Serah cut him off,  
>"I came up here to ask for your help downstairs moving some tables. Just remember if you say no, I could deny you my 'presence'."<br>Snow shook his head, "Yes dear, I'll come help."  
>Serah looked over his shoulder, "Noel, Sazh can you come help too? I would really appreciate it."<br>Sazh and Noel followed behind them, but not before Noel winked at Light. She flushed a light pink. They had started dating not that long ago. They didn't want to rush into a relationship, well Light didn't want to. She took the time to actually get to know him and really like him, just not be attracted to him. Light was now alone in the room with Hope, who was fumbling with fixing his bowtie. She shook her head and walked over to help him,  
>"Are you nervous?"<br>"Sort of. I think I'm more anxious then anything. I don't want to mess up any of my lines."  
>Light had to undo the bowtie. Seriously, men can never do it right. That's why clip-ons were invented.<br>"This isn't a play you know. If you forget anything, just ad-lib. Say what comes from the heart."  
>Hope smiled,<br>"Yeah, I guess you're right."  
>Light quickly finished the bowtie and smoothed it out,<br>"There, all finished. You look so grownup right now."  
>"Well I am almost twenty years old, you know."<br>Light shuddered, "Don't remind me. You make me feel old."  
>Hope laughed and looked at Light with a serious face,<br>"I know I've said it before but I want to say it again. Thank you Light. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."  
>Light fought back tears. She knew he truly meant it. He hugged her and continued,<br>"Really, you are the best person I know. You've stood by me through everything and supported my choices. I'm so glad to have you here at my wedding. Also, thank you for agreeing to be a part of Vanille's bridal party. I know wearing that dress is tough for you…"  
>Light scowled. She remembered when Vanille and Hope approached her about it.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Hope and Vanille walked into Light's room. Vanille was glowing with excitement, she had just picked her bridesmaid dresses from the local dress shop and fell in love with them. However, now they had to approach Light and ask her to be a part of the bridal party. It meant a lot to the both of them to have her involved somehow. Hope spoke up,<br>"Hey Light, there is something we want to ask you."  
>"Anything, what's up?"<br>"Well you see," Vanille continued, "I just got back from picking out bridesmaid dresses. And I would be so honored to have you as a member of my bridal party! Please Light, won't you join?"  
>Light grimaced. She knew how important it was to the both of them, however she never liked being in or near the spotlight. But she sighed, giving in. She wanted to give them what they wanted.<br>"Alright, I'll be in it. Thank you for including me."  
>"That's so great! Here, I thought you'd want to take a look at them!"<br>Vanille passed Light Hope's cellphone. When she looked down at the mobile phone, she almost hurled. Now, it wasn't an ugly dress per se,it was just very… pink. It has short lacy sleeves with a flowing body that touched the ground. The dress and sleeves were a bright pink that really stood out. There was a flower pinned over the right breast that was obnoxiously huge and a different shade of pink as to not mix with the other shade. Then there were flowers all over the bottom of the dress that were not quite as big as the flower on the chest but were large and in other shades of pink as well. Light shuddered, really how on Pulse was there THAT many shades of pink in the world? Light looked up at Vanille, who looked so proud of her choice. How could you take that away from her? She faked a smile,  
>"Oh wow, how… pretty."<br>Hope could obviously tell she was faking and bit his lip to try and stifle the laughs he was bottling inside._

* * *

><p>"Yeah, it kind of is. But I'll do it for you guys." Light looked down at her ensemble and just laughed to herself. It shows just what kind of crazy things you'll do it keep your family happy.<br>Hope laughed,  
>"Hey, you aren't alone! Fang and Serah have the same dresses."<br>"I know. I just wish I was Yeul or Dia. They didn't get as… pink."  
>Hope smiled, "You'll be fine. If it really sucks, change at the reception. Let me go downstairs and see if they need help moving those tables. Sazh said his back was killing him."<br>Light nodded and smoothed out his bowtie one more time,  
>"Go ahead, I'll see you at your wedding."<br>Hope kissed her cheek, "Thanks, old lady." He proceeded to leave the room. Light just grinned to herself and started her return to Vanille's room. Maybe they put away the makeup by now…

* * *

><p>The procession had just begun into the ceremony. It was a lovely setup. They were all on the beach of New Bodhum with pink flowers and satin ribbon as far as the eye could see. The dock had been taken down temporarily to allow a better view of the Pulse ocean. Everyone was there; Lebreau, Maqui , Yuj and the citizens of New Bodhum. Even some of Hope's friends from childhood trekked down to New Bodhum to see the nuptials. However, Hope did not invite his father. They had not spoken since the incident in Palumpolum six years ago. Hope was standing at the makeshift beach altar with Gadot as the minister. He actually got ordained just for this occasion. Hope wasn't exactly a big fan of the idea but when Gadot pouts, it's kind of pathetic. Serah walked in arm and arm with Noel first, followed by Sazh and Light. Then the maid of honor and best man, Snow and Fang walked in to round off the groomsmen and bridesmaids. They stood by their respective sides as Yeul, Dajh, Dia and Yun walked down the aisle. Yeul threw out the flowers for the bride's path,as Dajh stood by her while Dia and Yun smiled behind them and waved. Actually, Dia waved, Yun kept his head down in embarrassment. After they took their seats, there was a brief pause. This was the longest, brief pause of Hope's life. He knew what would come next. Vanille, his wife to be, would walk down that aisle to greet him at the altar where they would become man and wife.<br>Slowly and softly, the music began to play to cue Vanille's introduction.

The doors to NORA house opened wide to reveal Vanille and her glory. Hope nearly lost his balance. He had never seen her look so radiant. It was as if he had never understood true beauty until this moment in his life. Even through her veil, he could see her blushing. He smiled back at her, feeling his heart swell. She kept walking toward him slowly until she made a sudden stop. Hope panicked, was she going to run? No one knew what was going on. Then, from behind a spot of palm trees, Barthlomew Estheim walked over to greet Vanille. Hope stopped breathing as members of the audience gasped, including Light. Barthlomew kissed Vanille's cheek and linked arms with her as they continued to walk down the path. When they reached the end, Barthlomew lifted the veil over Vanille's face. Gadot boomed out,  
>"Who gives this woman to be married?"<br>"Her father is no longer with us, but Vanille has given me the honor to be here today. I give this woman to be married."  
>He kissed her cheek one final time,<br>"Please, take care of my son. Live a happy life together. I'm glad to call you my daughter."  
>He walked over to Hope and patted his shoulder,<br>"I'll talk to you later. Good luck."  
>Hope was still in shock. His father was actually here. Vanille mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to him. She wasn't a hundred percent sure this would end up well. Hope just smiled at her, not wanting to ruin this moment. Gadot coughed,<br>"Welcome, friends and family to this most joyous union! We are here today to join Hope Estheim and Oerba Dia Vanille in the bonds of holy matrimony!"  
>Hope and Vanille winced, he was rather loud.<br>"Now, let us begin with the vows! Oerba Dia Vanille, you may proceed."  
>Vanille looked up at Hope,<br>"There is no way to truly measure my love for you. I never knew what love was before I met you, Hope. I know now that nothing can tear us apart. Not even time, distance or being trapped in crystal. You and I are now, and always will be together and forever in love. I will work hard to make sure that our love never dies. I have faith in us. I believe in us. Here and now. Forever and always."  
>A tear slid down Vanille's cheek. Hope brushed it away and started his vows, not even waiting for Gadot.<br>"Oerba Dia Vanille, there will never be enough time to spend with you. I am sure of one thing however, is that any time not spend with you would be wasted. You showed me how to accept people and how to love them. You were there for me at times I thought I was truly alone. Vanille, you have done so much for me that I swear to you that for the rest of our lives and beyond, I will be here for you. Just like you have been there for me."  
>Vanille smiled at her love, her heart overflowing with love for him. Gadot boomed once again,<br>"Well then, Hope Estheim, do yoy take Oerba Dia Vanille's hand in marriage? To love and care for her? In sickness and in health? Till death do you both part?"  
>Hope grinned, "I do."<br>"Oerba Dia Vanille, do you take Hope Estheim's hand in marriage? To love and care for him? In sickness and in health? Till death do you both part?"  
>Vanille flashed her teeth, "I do."<br>"Then by the powers vested in me by our governing body, the New Sanctum and the planet of Gran Pulse, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Well go ahead Hope, kiss your bride!"  
>Hope rolled his eyes. THAT'S why he wasn't a fan of Gadot being the minister. However, he chuckled and kissed Vanille with a sweetness that could never be matched. When they released each other, Gadot spoke once more,<br>"Ladies and gentleman, I now introduce to you for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Hope Estheim! Cheers all around!"

* * *

><p>The reception started after the ceremony. The layout was still the same as the ceremony, except now the food and drinks were out for all to enjoy. Serah and Lebreau catered the whole event, so you know you would eat and drink well. Yuj brought some marts out to the beach to improvise as a dance floor. Maqui ran right to his sound booth to get the music started. Light and Fang went to get changed, having more then enough of that dress. Yeul and Dajh stood off to the side to play with Yun and Dia, who were especially fascinated with her since she moved there. Especially Dajh. He wouldn't admit to it but he had a little crush on Yeul. Noel and Sazh hit the bar already, not even waiting for Hope and Vanille to make their entrance. Snow stood by the members of NORA and congratulated Gadot on a job well done. Suddenly, Maqui boomed over the loudspeakers,<br>"Hey, ladies and gents, I want you guys to greet our newlyweds, Hope and Vanille Estheim! Please clear the dance floor for the bride and grooms first dance."  
>Vanille and Hope walked out from NORA house to make an entrance and made their way to the dance area. Hope bowed like a gentleman to Vanille as she giggled and took her hand. The music began playing in the background. They had chosen a song to represent the five years they had spent apart and how they still loved each other no matter what.<p>

_I wake in the morning, tired of sleeping. Get in the shower, and make my bed alone.  
>I put on my makeup, talk into the mirror. Ready for a new day, without you.<em>

_And I walk steady on my feet. I talk, my voice obeys me._  
><em>I go out at night, sleep without the lights. And I do all of the things I have to,<em>  
><em>Keepin' you off my mind. But when I think I'll be alright,<em>  
><em>I am always wrong, cause,<em>

_My hands don't wanna start again. My hands, no they don't wanna understand._  
><em>My hands, they just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find.<em>  
><em>My hands, they only agree to hold your hands. And they don't wanna be without your hands.<em>  
><em>And they will not let me go, No they will not let me go.<em>

_I talk about you now, and do it without crying._  
><em>I go out with my friends now. I stay home all alone.<em>  
><em>And I don't see you everywhere, and I can say your name easily.<em>  
><em>I laugh abit louder, without you,<em>

_And I see different shades now, I'm almost -never- afraid now._  
><em>But when I think I'll be okay I am always wrong, cause...<em>

_My hands don't wanna start again. My hands, no they don't wanna understand._  
><em>My hands, they just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find.<em>  
><em>My hands, they only agree to hold your hands. And they don't wanna be without your hands.<em>  
><em>And they will not let me go, No they will not let me go.<em>

_Sometimes I'll wake, I see them reaching out for you._

_Quietly break whatever shields I spent so long building up.  
>I cannot fake, 'cause when they cry I'm unspoken.<br>They miss holding my baby..._

_My hands, no they don't wanna understand._  
><em>They just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find.<em>

_My hands, your hands, they don't wanna be without your hands._  
><em>No they will not let me go.<em>  
><em>No they will not let me go.<em>  
><em>My hands, don't wanna start <em>_again__._

_My hands, no they don't wanna understand.  
>My hands, they just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find.<br>My hands, they only agree to hold your hands.  
>No they don't be without your hands.<br>And they will not let me go.  
>No they will not let me go.<em>

_No, no, no they will not let me go._

They had danced close together to this song. IT was a sweet moment for the both of them, staring into each other's eyes and stealing quick kisses. Fang and Light smiled at the couple. It really was impossible to not feel joy at this moment. Noel grabbed Light's hand and smiled at her. Sazh put an arm around Fang as a friendly gesture. Serah leaned onto Snow's big chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Dia smacked Yun, only cause he was pulling her hair and Yeul was glad she could be a part of the moment with them all, her new family. It truly was one of the happiest moments this family had experienced together. The song softly ended and the crowd applauded the happy couple. Regular music started playing and Vanille let go of Hope.  
>"I'm going to go get changed into a dress I can actually dance in. Please, go talk to your father, for me?"<br>Hope nodded, begrudgingly. He didn't want to, but she she asked so nicely…  
>She kissed his cheek and started to walk back to the big house to get dressed. Hope sighed and scoured the party for his father. He was sitting at a table, communicating with a few of the people from New Bodhum. He swallowed his pride and approached him. Barthlomew stood up,<br>"To be honest, I didn't think you'd come see me."  
>"My wife asked me to. Why are you here Dad?"<br>"Vanille called me and told me everything that has happened these past six years. About her being in the pillar, your voyage to that temple and how you were getting married. She asked me to give her away at the wedding since her family is no longer here. She also told me she wanted to keep it a surprise from you, since she didn't know how you'd react."  
>Hope sighed, he felt bad that he made Vanille have to keep a secret from him in fear of his reaction. Barthlomew continued,<br>"Look, I wanted to be here. You are my son and she is now my daughter. She is an amazing woman. The both of you will be very happy, I'm sure of that. But never forget that I am your father, and I will always want to be involved somehow in your life. Please, don't distance yourself from me ever again. I lost your mother, I don't want to lose you too."  
>Hope gasped quietly. He never really thought of it like that. He left his father all alone in Palumpolum. He lowered his head, ashamed of his actions,<br>"You're right Dad. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I won't do that ever again. In fact, you should move down here to Pulse so we can be together more often."  
>Barthlomew laughed, "I think I may take you up on that offer. I want to be around my grandchildren in the future!"<br>The Estheim men laughed and looked at each other. Then, at the same time, they both pulled in for a hug. It was a embrace that was long overdue, six years overdue. When they let go, Vanille had suddenly appeared to see them.  
>"Oh I'm so happy you both made up!" She grabbed them both and laughed,<br>"Now come on, it's a party! Time to celebreate!"  
>Hope looked at his wife, who was now wearing a complete lace dress with a sheer material under it that was all white. In her own style, she pulled her hair back to her curly pig tails. He actually missed them, although he loved her hair down as well. She skipped away from them over to Fang and Light, who now had on short black dresses. Barthlomew laughed,<br>"She's just a never ending ball of energy huh?"  
>Hope smiled, "You have no idea."<p>

* * *

><p>The party continued on into the night. Everyone was having a genuinely good time. Light stayed by Noel most of the night, even slow dancing a few times. Sazh hung out with Fang as they had drinking contests. Yeul stayed with Dia and Yun to play and dance with them. Snow fluxed between spending time with Serah and the NORA gang. Hope never left Vanille's side, even as she went to spend time with his father. At one point the entire gang was back together, sitting at a large table. Sazh looked over at the newlyweds,<br>"So, you guys doing a honeymoon or something?"  
>Vanille smiled, "Actually, we're going to visit Oerba and plant some flowers for my relatives. I haven't been back there in six years, I want to see if anything has changed."<br>Fang looked at her,  
>"Are you sure you want to go there? That place doesn't exactly hold good memories for us anymore. IT could taint the happy atmosphere."<br>Hope answered,  
>"It's what she wants to do. Besides, we get to traverse around Pulse again to get there. It will be fun."<br>Snow elbowed him, "So, in a tent, huh Hope? Get my drift?"  
>He wiggled his eyebrows. Hope turned red and punched him,<br>"Oh shut up you big oaf."  
>Everyone at the table laughed, except for Fang and Light. They just wanted to smack him at this moment. Married or not, Vanille and Hope were still their little kids to them. Talking about them having sex was just wrong. Vanille spoke up,<br>"I also want to go there to assess the damages time has done. I want to rebuild Oerba. I want it back to its former glory. It will take time, but it's what I want to do with my life, I'm sure of it."  
>Everyone looked around and nodded. It was a good way to spend her time that was for sure. Sazh got an idea,<br>"Well hey, we can all pitch in and help. I can fly in supplies!"  
>"When it's ready for civilians, I can train a unit to guard it." Light could always be counted on for protection.<br>"I can kill behemoths in one strike." Noel was proud of his hunting skills.  
>"I can build whatever you need. These fists are great!" Snow was a little too proud of his handiness.<br>"You know I'll do whatever, I have to rebuild my old home too!" Fang wanted Oerba back just as much as Vanille.  
>"I'll make the food for you all to eat. I can also teach children there!" Serah was a great teacher.<br>"I'll tell the Academy to send in any resources we may need." Hope had close ties to leaders of the Academy.  
>Vanille was so touched by all of their comments. They were willing to once again, drop their lives to help her. It made her smile and realize she has the best family there ever was. Tears started to roll down her face. Yeul walked over with the other kids,<br>"Your future looks very bright, Mrs. Vanille Estheim."  
>Vanille hugged Yeul and the tears started to flow. Hope rubbed her back, trying to console her. She let the young seeress go and looked at her family.<br>"Thank you. Thank you all so much. I mean it."  
>Sazh chuckled,<br>"Hey now, I was being serious here. I say we do it! When the kiddies return from their honeymoon and tell us how Oerba is, we all go back and start to work! We can get that place up and running in no time!"  
>It would be a big task for the heroes to take on. But they all knew that if they stuck together, they could do it. After all, they did destroy a tyrant Fal'cie and despicable beast together. What's rebuilding an ancient Pulse town? Child's play. Snow put his hand in the middle of the table,<br>"I'm in, baby! Who's with me?"  
>Sazh threw in his hand, "You know this old man's still got it."<br>Fang put her hand in the small pile, "It's my homeland. Gotta do what I can!"  
>Serah placed her hand on top, "Sure, I'm game!"<br>Yeul put her hand in as well, "Of course!"  
>Dajh quickly scrambled to put his hand in, "If Yeul's going, I am too!"<br>Noel threw his hand down, "Yeah, let's do this!"  
>Dia shouted, "Yun and I can't reach, but we wanna come to!"<br>Light placed her hand over his, "Yes, let's work together."  
>Hope joined his hand in the pile, "I'll do this for my wife. Forever and always." He looked at his bride, "Well?"<br>Vanille giggled, "Alright then! Looks like we're going on another adventure!"  
>Her hand was the last in the large pile. Then snow shouted,<br>"On three, ready? One… Two… Three!"  
>The gang lifted up their hands together, symbolizing their unity and starting their next voyage.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>YAY! Finally after an eon, there is an EPILOGUE! (sorry I didn't have to post it yesterday. internet died x.x)<strong>  
><strong>YES, I have kind of figured how I want the sequel to go. Rebuilding Oerba with some adventure and romance mixed in! Ugh, I look forward to it!<strong>  
><strong>To everyone who has stuck by to see the ending of this story, I have to thank you. You guys are so totally kickass and I love and appreciate you all!<strong>  
><strong>Stick around for the sequel, "A New Home" coming soon to a fanfiction site near you! <strong>  
><strong>I love you all~ :D<strong>  
><strong>-Myrna<strong>


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